Nikhil Phatak
Instrument / Art Form: Tabla
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Nikhil Ratnakar is a renowned tabla player, named after the eminent guitarist Nikhil Banerjee, whom his family greatly admired. A love for Indian classical music pervaded the Phatak family.
At the age of 62, his grandmother began learning the harmonium and within three years started accompanying young Nikhil in renditions of various hymns.
Phatak began his training under Pt Suresh Samant, son of famous tabla guru Pt G.L. Samant, and learnt from him for around eight years.
At the age of 12, he began playing the tabla on stage and won many accolades at school and college competitions, including at the state and national levels. At the age of 13, he played as an accompanist to veteran flautist Arvind Gajendragadkar at the Raghavendra Swamy Ashram on Laxmi Road.
Eminent musicians such as Pt Bhimsen Joshi praised him for his performance, and it was here that Phatak won his first prize of Rs 5 in a concert.