He started his formal music education by training under the famous musician K. C. Dey from 1925 to 1930; thereafter in 1932 he came under the tutelage of Bhismadev Chattopadhaya, who was only three years his senior. This was followed by training from Kahifa Badal Khan, Sarangi player, and Ustad Allauddin Khan [2]. Eventually he got K.C. Dey, Ustad Badal Khan and Allauddi Khan into Agartala, noted Bengal poet laureate, Kazi Nazrul Islam also spent time in their family home, Comilla House, in Agartala.This makes his facility with composition no surprise, but what is astonishing is the amount of talent, the versatility and the fact that he fathered a son called Rahul Dev Burman! Very rarely does one find a father son duo where you are hard-pressed to pick who was better.
Any attempt to pick the best of SD Burman would soon get bogged down in sheer length an the difficulty of having to make choices. So I thought I would get started with the songs that Sachin Da sang – these were invariably uniquely poignant and soulful:
