His job saw him posted at Hyderabad and here he began taking lessons in Hindustani classical music from Pandit Lahanu Babu Rao.
Shortly after, he got transferred to Calcutta (now Kolkata) where he studied music with Girija Shankar Chakraborty.
It was during his stay at Calcutta that he earned a name for himself by his melodious voice and a very personal style of gayaki that he developed.
The acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak used his fast khayal "Laagi Lagan Pati Sakhi Sang" set in Raga Hansadhwani[2] in his classic film Meghe Dhaka Tara.
Several young students had the opportunity of learning Hindustani classical music from him and went on to make names for themselves in later lives.