Narayan Shripad Rajhans
Bal Gandharva in his roles of female characters in Marathi plays 1924
Background information
Birth name	Narayan Shripad Rajhans
Also known as	Bal Gandharva
Born	(1888-06-26)June 26, 1888 Nagthane Palus, Sangli district, Maharashtra, India
Died	1967 Pune
Genres	Musicals (Sangeet Natak)
Occupations	Singer and Stage actor
Years active	1905–1955

Narayan Shripad Rajhans better known as Bal Gandharva (1888–1967) was one of the greatest Marathi singers and stage actors. He was famous for his roles of female characters in Marathi plays, since women were not allowed to act on stage during his time.^[1]

Bal Gandharva got his name after a performance in Pune as an aspiring singer. Lokmanya Tilak, the great freedom fighter and the grand old man of the Indian independence movement was in the audience, and after the performance, reportedly patted Rajhans on the back and said that Narayan was a "Bal Gandharva" which means "Young Gandharva".

Personal life[link]

Narayan Shripad Rajhans was born in Nagthane village in Palus taluk of Sangli district in Maharashtra, India. Bal Gandharva's first wife died in 1940. Bal Gandharva married Gohar Karnataki in 1951. Gohar was an actress in his drama company. Gohar died in 1964.

Theatre career[link]

Born in an ordinary family, Narayan Rajhans started off with singing bhajans, until Shahu Maharaj noticed him. Shahu Maharaj helped him to get treatment on hearing problems at Miraj. Shahu Maharaj introduced him to Kirloskar Mandali, the group which used to promote Marathi musical shows in that era.

Bal Gandharva began his career with Kirloskar Natak Mandali in 1905. The company was run by Mujumdar and Nanasaheb Joglekar. After Joglekar's death in 1911, there was discontent about Mujumdar's dictatorial and manipulative style. Bal Gandharva, Ganesh Govind ('Ganpatrao') Bodas and Govindrao Tembe left the company in 1913 to form Gandharva Sangeet Mandali. Bal Gandharva became the sole owner of the debt ridden company in 1921. The debt was paid off in 7 years' time. But the company accumulated debt again over next 6–7 years. Bal Gandharva dissolved the company to make 6 films with Prabhat Film Company but the partnership was dissolved after just one film in which he was portrayed in a male role, that of Sant Eknath.

Bal Gandharva revived his drama company in 1937, and soon formed an infamous association with Gohar Karnataki known as Gauhar Bai who joined the company in April 1938. With Narayanrao increasingly ill at ease in female roles owing to his advancing years, the company was looking for an actress to play female roles. His brother Bapurao Rajhans left the company to protest against Gohar's entry in Gandharva Sangeet Mandali and Bal Gandharva's life when it became clear that Gohar would have a major say in the company's stewardship.

Bal Gandharva acted in 25 classic Marathi plays and was one of those who were responsible for making Sangeet Natak (musicals) and Natya Sangeet (the music in those musicals) popular among common masses. He was a disciple of Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale. Bakhale scored music for his drama Swayamwar. Govindrao Tembe scored music for Manapman. Among the younger lot, Bal Gandharva's composer of choice was Master Krishnarao (Krishna Phulambrikar).

The songs rendered by him are, to date, considered as classics and his singing style is greatly appreciated by Marathi critics and audiences. Marathi stage was facing difficult times after the death of Bhaurao Kolhatkar in 1901. Bal Gandharva revived it. His famous contemporaries include Keshavrao Bhosale (known as "Sangeet-Surya") and Deenanath Mangeshkar.

He acted in plays written by Annasaheb Kirloskar, Govind Ballal Deval, Shripad Krushna Kolhatkar, Krushnaji Prabhakar Khadilkar, Ram Ganesh Gadkari, Vasant Shantaram Desai.

Bal Gandharva died in 1967. The Bal Gandharva Rangamandir (Theatre) in the city of Pune is named in his honor.

A movie named Balgandharva has been released by Iconic Chandrant Productions in May 2011. This movie portrays the life-journey of Balgandharva. The movie has been widely appreciated.

Roles[link]

His famous roles include :

• Bhamini in Manapman(1911)
• Rukmini in Swayamwar(1916)
• Sindhu in Ekach Pyala(1920)

Awards[link]

• In 1955 Bal Gandharva received the coveted "President's Award" (now known as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award the highest musical honour in India from the then President of India.
• In 1964 Bal Gandharva received The Padma Bhushan Award,the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India.

Biography[link]

• Bal Gandharva: the nonpareil thespian Author- Mohan Nadkarni, Publisher-National Book Trust, 2002, Length - 77 pages
• Balgandharva and the Marathi theatre Author- Dnyaneshwar Nadkarni, Publisher- Roopak Books, 1988, Length- 159 pages

Also read[link]

• Sangeet Natak
• Natya Sangeet
• Balgandharva Film

References[link]

External links[link]

• Documenting a forgotten legend - The Hindu newspaper
• List of Bal Gandharva's songs

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Nitin Desai (born 1941) is an Indian economist. He was Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations from 1997 to 2003.[2]

Early life and academic career[link]

He studied at St. Xavier’s High School and Elphinstone College in Mumbai. He received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Bombay in 1962 and, in 1965, earned a Master’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Desai lectured in economics at the University of Liverpool and the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom from 1965 to 1970.^{[citation needed]} Returning to India he worked as a consultant for the then nascent Tata Economic Consultancy Services from 1970 to 1973. His major work here was on the economic analysis of CIDCO’s Twin City project.

Indian government and international career[link]

Desai began his government career in 1973 in the Planning Commission of the Government of India where he served in various capacities. His principal work there was the establishment of a system of cost-benefit appraisal of public investment projects. He was also involved in energy policy work and was on the Board of Indian Oil Corporation. He was the member-secretary of the National Commission on the Development of Backward Areas. In 1983 he served concurrently as Secretary of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India.

From September 1985 to March 1987, he served as Senior Economic Adviser for the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) where he introduced the concept of sustainable development and was responsible for drafting the key chapters dealing with this aspect in the report of the Commission “Our Common Future”.

Returning to India in 1987, Desai was made Special Secretary in the Planning Commission and, in 1988, Secretary and Chief Economic Adviser in the Dept. of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. In the latter capacity he coordinated the preparations for the 1989 and the 1990 budgets of the Central Government.

In 1990 Mr. Desai’s services were requested by the United Nations. From 1990 to 1993, Desai was the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992 Rio Earth Summit). In that capacity one of his primary responsibilities was to coordinate the work of the Secretariat related to the development of Agenda 21, the principal programmatic outcome of the Conference.

In early 1993 the then United Nations Secretary-General established three new departments at United Nations Headquarters in the economic, social and related fields. In February 1993 he appointed Nitin Desai at the Under-Secretary-General level to head the newly created Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development. The substantive work of this Department supported the various United Nations intergovernmental bodies, including the Economic and Social Council, and the Commission on Sustainable Development.^[1]

In March 1997, Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Desai to coordinate, and subsequently head, the consolidated Department of Economic and Social Affairs which provided substantive support to the normative, analytical, statistical and relevant technical cooperation processes of the United Nations on the economic and social side. In that capacity Desai organized and managed the Copenhagen Summit on Social Development (1995) and the Monterrey Summit on Finance and Development (2002). Desai was also the Convenor of the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs which brings together the heads of all the UN Secretariat entities directly concerned with economic, environmental and social issues.

In October 2001, the Secretary-General asked Desai to act as Secretary-General of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002 Johannesburg Summit). Desai undertook this task in addition to his existing responsibilities. A special feature of this Summit was the focus on the developmental and environmental aspects of water, energy, agriculture, health and bio-diversity. The Summit also led to practical partnerships between governments, international organizations, the private sector and NGOs to address these concerns.^[2]

At the end of August 2003, Desai retired from the UN but continues his association with the UN as a Special Adviser to the Secretary General for the World Summit on the Information Society. In that capacity he chaired an international multi-stakeholder Working Group on Internet Governance. He continues to chair a similar group charged with the responsibility of organizing the Internet Governance Forum mandated by the World Summit on the Information Society.

Desai was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2003-04. In July 2004 Desai was inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the London School of Economics and Political Science.^[3]

In India, Desai has been involved in a variety of public policy activities. He chaired the Committee on Technical Innovation and Venture Capital set up by the Planning Commission, Government of India in 2006. He is also the co-chair, along with Lord Chris Patten of the India-UK Round Table set up by the two governments.^[4]

Desai is associated with the Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy and many academic organisations and NGOs dealing with economic, social and environmental issues as also security and foreign policy. He has published several articles and papers on development planning, regional economics, industry, energy and international economic relations. He writes a monthly column for Business Standard an economic daily published from Delhi.

References[link]