Shri Rasbihari Desai
The Musical Journey of Shri Rasbihari Desai
The Naagar community is a miniscule in the population and yet one finds a Naagar occupying a spot on the pinnacle of every profession and vocation. Born in a community which has epitomized music, musical talent and fine arts for centuries in our country, in Shri Rasbihari Desai one finds a musical genius of our times.
Shri Rasbihari Desai was born in 1926 in Baroda, Gujarat. His father Shri Chintulal Desai was a medical doctor and his mother Shrimati Panulakshmiben, a traditional housewife. During his childhood he had the immense benefit of the melodious singing of his mother and his father’s art of playing the Dilruba. This was the beginning of a lifetime quest of music. The journey was to begin with small steps with learning classical music in primary school and the privilege of learning from Shri Narayan Gadre in the secondary school.
He always got the highest accolades both in the academic as well as music examinations at school. He had a unique talent which enabled him to try his hand at playing several instruments starting with Tabla. The inseparable “laya” and “nada” came through the learning of Tabla and other instruments that he virtually learnt on his own once he explored the instrument and learnt it’s nuances.
His elder brother Shri Karnikbhai Desai brought home several western flutes which needed to be repaired and Shri Rasbihari Desai started to mend them one after another. In this process he discovered that the flute was his instrument. Whenever he recalls this episode he almost goes in to a trance and recounts that he played the raga Bhimpalaasi-on a panflute! That he was holding in his life for the very first time. Here began his tryst with the flute. May be it had everything to do with his name “Rasbihari” which is one of the names of Shree Krishna! He soon acquired an Indian flute and started his daily “Riyaaz”.
The divine helped him get an instrument of his choice and it was Pandit Shri Omkarnath Thakur, the great vocalist witnessed immense talent in a young man in his early twenties, prompting him to learn under Pandit Shri Pannalal Ghosh a well acclaimed flutist of national repute. This was in Mumbai and Rasbihari was determined to start learning from the maestro and yet the actual initiation was to happen in a very accidental manner. Shri Pannalalji was recording at a studio where he watched Rasbihari fondly examining his flute and said nothing. It was two days later that Rasbihari went to Shri Pannalaji’s home and heard Shri Pannalalji say “I knew you will come to me” the moment I saw you at the recording. This was the beginning of dedication of a shishya to his Guruji and a lifetime of learning. The period of 1947 to 1955 saw a unique bond developing between the Guru and the shishya. Rasbihari spent hours learning and hours practising several raagas and acquiring his Guruji’s exemplary “style” of playing the flute. The bond resulted in a “oneness” that occurs only rarely and this resulted in a lot of special “sharing” that the Guru had for his chosen disciple. So much so that upon the Guru asking Rasbihari what name he should give to a new raga that the Guru played for the first time, Rasbihari replied “Chandramauli”and the Guru said that it was the same name that Guruji had already given to this new raga! Rasbihari was always asked by Guruji to accompany him to public recitals and it was always a jugalbandhi, or in other words, a sawaal-jawaab session.
Rasbihari was chosen to conduct a “flute orchestra”comprising of a thhumri in Raag Piloo at a concert held in the honour of the late Guru who passed away in 1955.
The inner journey of the shishya learning from his Guru has continued through his life and Rasbihari often says he still feels the presence of his Guru while playing the flute.
Rasbihari was invited by Pandit Omkarnath Thakur to play flute at his concert.
Application of classical music gets manifested in a number of ways and apart from classical music Rasbihari did music scores for a dance ballet and contributed immensely to Gujarati Sugam Sangeet. He did so by composing songs of different genres whether it be romantic, humourous, slow, classical, fast, ghazalas, bhajans and many more. All these songs were composed in a very original, melodious and a very inimitable style. Some of his popular songs have been rendered by famous singers like Shri Purushottam Upadhyay,Ashit Desai,Hema Desai,Pauravi Desai,Dilaraj Kaur,Bhupinder Singh,Anuradha Paudwal and several other singers. Some of his popular songs are “Kanha ne maagyo de” ,“Vhaalam nu naam” ,“Aa nain nathi chhe shraavan” and “He daya kripanidhi” of which the lyrics were written by him.
Poetry comes easily to Rasbihari and he can also write good lyrics and humourous articles. The zest for life and learning continues and now he has started learning astrology. He has had immense benefit from yogic sadhana of nearly fifty years. He still teaches flute to a few very select disciples.
The gene pool of musical talent continues with his daughter-Foram (who won the best playback singer award as a child for “ Kaun Halave Limbdi” from the film, Sonbai Ni Chundadi in Gujarat State Govt.) and grand daughters being good singers.
Now, nearly eighty years old, he lives a disciplined life with the zest and quest that he has shown through out his life.