R. C. Mehta

Shri Ramanlal Chhotalal Mehta was born in 1918 in Surat in Gujarat. He received his initial training in Hindustani music under Kanchalal Mamawala and was later a student of Ustad Abdul Waheed Khan of the Kirana gharana. Over a career in music spanning more than six decades, he has acquired high distinction as a musicologist, academician and teacher. After serving All India Radio for nine years, he joined the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 1954 as Principal of its College of Indian Music, Dance and Dramatics, and served in that position up to 1978. In 1970 he established the Indian Musicological Society in Baroda which besides publishing a scholarly journal - the Journal of the Musicological Society — has brought out a large number of books by leading Indian and foreign scholars. Shri Mehta himself has authored several books in Gujarati, Hindi and English on various aspects of music, and edited some twenty publications published by the Indian Musicological Society. These include Psychology of Music, Music and Mythology, Thumri — Tradition and Trends, and Compositions in Indian music. For his service to music, Shri Mehta has been honoured with an honorary doctorate conferred by the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in 1967. His service in music has been recognized by several leading institutions. He received the State Award for music from the Government of Gujarat in 1978. In 1983, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Government of India, gave him an Emeritus Fellowship. Recently, he has been conferred the Padma Bhushan (2009). For his outstanding contribution to Indian music, Shri R.C. Mehta is elected Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi.