Profile

Ravindra Jain

Despite his visual impairment, Ravindra Jain established himself in the musical world. He was not able to see since his childhood. His family made many efforts for his treatment while inspiring the child to develop his natural skills.

Dr. Mohan Lal, famous eye specialist of Aligarh, a friend of Ravindra’s father, performed an operation of his eyes. Even after the operation only negligible vision was possible and the child Ravindra was able to distinguish between light and darkness. If a man stood before him he used to see a faint mark.

But this did not stand in way of his talents as a musician. When he started talking, people saw that his voice was melodious. His hands were too small to play on the harmonium but he was able to sing melodious songs. His father arranged for a small harmonium for him. His elder brother, Dhanya Kumar Jain used to read poetry books to him.

The child Ravindra had a deep affection for nature. He used to love the chirping sounds of birds. Since he was not able to see the ugly outer world, his inner eyes opened and he started joining words and started creating poetry. He developed the capability of assessing objects by touching them. He accepted the fact that for his eyes the world was either bright or dark and he started remaining serious and introverted. He started speaking and listening through music only.

Meanwhile his life took an important turn and his family shifted to Calcutta. Here he started listening to Bangla songs on radio as well as records.

Despite getting expertise at an early age, he had to face setbacks at the beginning of his music career. His first song was recorded for a film called Balidan. This film was never released. His second film was Lori. However, the songs recorded for this film remained closed in the cans as this film was also not released. In 1973 he sang a song with Mohd. Rafi for a film directed by NN Sippy but this song was also not used. But these unsuccessful events could not dishearten him. He sang a song for Kanch Aur Heera produced by Raj-Shree films and this song was heard by the public. And then began his journey of fame with the youth and the seniors.

His speed of progress was further accelerated when Ramananda Sagar produced the Ramayana serial as he used background music created by Ravindra. With television his music reached the houses of the common people.

Ravindra gives the credit of his success to the education he received from Prayag Sangeet Akademi, Allahabad, which also gave him a degree in classical music. He also gives credit to nine and a half years spent in Bengal. His musical talent was nourished in the cultural environment of Calcutta. Here he also got the opportunity to join the stage. He played a major role in the Anamika stage group and provided music to the theatre. He presented programmes for “Kala Mandir”. He also gave music and lent his voice to the poems of the famous poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

His music included folk tunes and melodies of Bengal’s soil. He was also influenced by melodious musicians such as Sachin Dev Burman, Madan Mohan, Roshan. Although he tried to keep his unique identification but some times the influence of other senior musicians was visible.

He loved music and accepted it as a life partner. Lost in his work he did not even notice that a girl who was herself a good poetess was observing him continuously. When Divya proposed marriage, he initially declined. Probably he wanted to remain unmarried and continue his work. However she did not accept his no for an answer and remained in contact with him. After several years the marriage was finally solemnized in the early 1980s.

So far Ravindra has given music to over 250 films in various languages. Almost all prominent singers have sung his music but he feels that nobody can replace Mohd Rafi and Mukesh.

Raj Kapoor was greatly impressed by Ravindra’s compositions as they were influenced by the music of Bengal. He asked Ravindra to compose music for his film Do Jasoos. These songs were really a big hit. Ravindra also worked with renowned directors like Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak.

Despite his blindness Ravindra has visited many countries and met musicians of several countries. He has been awarded and honoured by several reputed organizations. Prayag Sangeet Samiti has conferred on him the title of “Sangeet Prabhakar” organizations like Sur Singar Samsad, Film Fare, Uptron and Bengal film Journalists Association have honoured him too.

While respecting all these awards, he feels that the biggest award for him is from the audience who likes his music.

Source: Eminent Disabled people of the world, Vinod Kumar Mishra.