Kolkata: Renowned flute virtuoso Pandit Ronu Majumdar was conferred with the Padma Shri, the third-highest civilian award in India, by the Honourable President Draupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi at a Civil Investiture Ceremony. Pandit Ronu Majumdar dedicated the award to whole of India, his parents and Gurus.
Ronu Majumdar, said, “I am deeply emotional and happy to receive this prestigious award, Padma Shri, at this pivotal moment. I dedicate this Padma Shri to all of India, to all those in our country who practice music and those who aspire to do so. My parents, my mother, whose eyes were filled with tears when she heard of this honour. I wish to dedicate this to my mother’s feet. I also dedicate this award to my Gurus: Bharat Ratna Ravi ShankarJi, my Guru Pandit Vijay Raghav Rao, and my first Guru and father, Bhanu Majumdar Ji.”
He further added, “I sincerely thank Shri Narendra Modiji, the Honourable Prime Minister of India, and Shri Amitbhai Shah, the Honourable Home Minister, for recognizing my contributions to this field that I have dedicated myself to for the past 50 years. I did not celebrate the moment with a fanfare in the backdrop of the incident in Pahalgam as it has deeply saddened all of us.
This prestigious recognition comes as a testament to his lifelong contributions to Indian classical music, particularly in the field of bansuri, Indian flute. Pandit Majumdar was among the 11 Padma Shri awardees from Maharashtra, announced by the Government of India on the eve of Republic Day.
