Lahiri, Chinmay (1916-1984) classical musician, was born in Pabna, but brought up in Lucknow, where his engineer father, Jibchandra Lahiri, worked. Chinmay's musical education began in Lucknow under Robin Chattopadhyaya. Chinmay later studied at Morris College of Music, Lucknow, where he took music lessons from Pandit Ratan Jhankar, principal of the college. Subsequently, he studied under Dilip Bedi, Khurshid Ali Khan, and Chhotey Khan.

Indian musical performers usually belong to a family of musicians. Chinmay Lahiri, however, did not belong to a musical family. It was through his own enthusiasm, initiative and hard work that he acquired expertise in music.

Though Chinmay practised music under many famous Indian musicians, he created his own gharana. His songs are marked by a sweetness of melody along classical lines. He impressed connoisseurs all over India with a performance of Nandakos raga composed by Sureshchandra Chakraborty. HMV released his first record in 1944.

Chinmay Lahiri started his professional career as a part-time employee of Lucknow Radio. He joined Dhaka Radio, but ultimately moved permanently to Kolkata where he joined Calcutta Radio. He was an instructor at the Gramophone Company for some time. He then joined Rabindra Bharati University as professor, a position he held till his death.

His performance at the 'All-Bengal Music Conference' in 1952 made him popular overnight. Chinmay also directed music and recorded songs for films, among them Mandanda. His duet with Pratima Bandyopadhyaya, 'Tribeni tirthapathe ke gahila gan', in Shapmochan, was very popular.

Chinmay created many ragas, including Shyamkos, Yogamaya, Prabhati Todi, Rajanikalyan, Kushumi Kalyan, Gandharika, Nagranjani, Mangalati, and Shrubhra. He was not only a singer of repute but also a renowned music teacher and was awarded the title of 'Sangitvisharad' by Morris College. He wrote two books on music. Magangit o Tanmanjari, on musical notations, is in several volumes, of which only four have been published. [Mobarak Hossain Khan]