page_title: Rasbihari Desai
section_title: Shruti Vrunda
hierarchical_section_title: Rasbihari Desai / Career / Shruti Vrunda
caption_attribution_description: English: Desai before music stalwarts like Lata Mangeshkar, Hridaynath Mangeshar and Salil Chaudhary
context_page_description: Rasbihari Desai, who was fondly called Rasbhai, even by himself, was a renowned vocalist and composer of Gujarati and Hindi songs. He had a deep sonorous voice. He lived up to what he used to say – “Sureelo kanth, sureelu-n jeevan.” A knowledgeable professor of Physics, he remained steeped in spirituality.
  He did not receive any formal training in music. He had a natural genius for it. He had the ear to notice the finer qualities of singing that gave it character and the voice that made them his own. Reading enriched his repertoire and interpretation. He took care to constantly expose himself to genuine poetry and to pronounce its words correctly, retaining the Dhwani that gave them their distinctive aural beauty. He was gifted with that rare quality of voice we call Kharaj – notes in the lowest octave - rising from within and through sustenance assuming meditative depth and dignity. He accepted having been encouraged and inspired by Sooryakant Dave, Suresh Jani and Purushottam Upadhyay.
context_section_description: Rasbihari Desai was instrumental in the formation of Shruti, a group of non-professional proficient trained singers, which in course of time emerged as the benchmark in group singing with a fragrance of the soil in the songs and a refreshing spontaneity in rendering them.
  For over 40 years Shruti gave more than 300 performances in Gujarat, Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur, Kolkata and other places. Music maestros like Lata Mangeshkar, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Salil Chaudhary, Madan Mohan, Manna Dey, Mohammed Rafi, Laxmikant Pyarelal and Avinash Vyas were among those who highly commended Shruti’s significant tenacious endeavour.
caption: Desai in program of "Shruti" before music stalwarts like Lataji, Salil Chaudhary and Hridaynath Mangeshkar
exif: {}