Vidushi[1]Manju Mehta (born Manju Bhatt;[2] 21 May 1945 – 20 August 2024) was an Indian classical sitar player.[3]
Background
Mehta was born on 21 May 1945 in Jaipur,[4] to Manhohan and Chandrakalav Bhatt.[5] She grew up in a family of musicians; both of her parents were accomplished musicians, with her mother studying with several court musicians.[2] Her older brother Shashi Mohan Bhatt and younger brother Vishwa Mohan Bhatt would both be recognized as pandits later in life.[6][7]
Sashi Mohan, a student of Ravi Shankar,[6] was his sister Manju's first sitar teacher.[2] After winning two consecutive State and Central Government scholarships, she was given the opportunity to study under sarod player Pandit Damodar Lal Kabra, a disciple of Ali Akbar Khan[8] and Shankar.[2]
While studying and recording[9] with Kabra, Mehta began performing, competed in the All India Radio competition, and earned her master's degree in music.[2] During one performance, she met tabla player Nandan Mehta, a student of Kishan Maharaj and exponent of the Banaras gharana.[10] Manju and Nandan would later marry,[2] having two daughters—Poorvi and Hetal, who respectively play sitar and tabla—before Nandan's death in 2010.[10]
Mehta died on 20 August 2024, at the age of 79.[11]
Career
After marrying Nandan and the births of her two children, Mehta did not perform for almost a decade before, in 1980, she was accepted (like her earlier teachers Bhatt and Kabra) to study with Ravi Shankar.[2]
Mehta was a top grade classical instrumentalist,[12] the highest grade of musicians in All India Radio's rating system.[13] She was the co-founder of Saptak school of music @ Saptak trustSaptak Festival of Music held every year in Ahmedabad.[14]
