Manju Mehta

Mehta was born in Jaipur 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]

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 is a Top grade classical instrumentalist,[11] the highest grade of musicians in All India Radio's rating system.[12] She is the co-founder of Saptak school of music @ Saptak trustSaptak Festival of Music held every year in Ahmedabad.[13]

• Sangeet Natak Academy of Gujarat
• Tansen Samman, 2018 [14]
• Dhirubhai Thakar Savyasachi Saraswat Award, 2016.[15]