Page:Who's Who in India Supplement 2 (1914).djvu/89

SUPPPLEMENT 55 the Banswara State (Rajputana) as chief medical officer for sometime. He is now serving in the Rampur State (U. P.) as Physician to H. H. the Navvab. Dr. Desai is the only- Indian on whom the honor of 32nd degree of Freemasonry has been conferred. He is a Masonic Knight Companion of the Royal Order of Scotland, Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalam and Malta and a Knight of the ' Black and White Eagle/ Address : Rampur State, U. P. Shrimati Satyabala Devi Desai, the famous scientific musician, is the daughter of Rajeshri Sarat ChanderChatterji, a distinguished zemindar of Behar, near Calcutta. She was born on the i6th of November, 1892, and from her childhood evinced great interest in music and at the early age of eight could recite several pieces of religious music including Samaveda and Astapadi in Sanskrit. As he had no male child, her father devoted all his resources to the education of Satyabala which she received at the Bethuen College, Calcutta. The notation system of music which the late Maharaja Surrendra Mohan Tagore developed was mastered by Satya- bala at the age of 12 years. It was also about this time that her attention was first drawn to the classical Vina (an oriental stringed instrument) and in the course of a few years she learnt, almost to perfection, to manipulate this most difficult of musical instruments. Recently she made a tour round the world and gave illustrated lectures on music before several European, Japanese, Chinese, and American learned assem- blies of musicians and whenever she went her exposition of the subject was highly admired. In India also she gave, after her return from Europe, an illustrated lecture on the past history of the Hindu music before the Royal Society of Calcutta and her lecture was greatly appreciated. She has played before large audiences of learned ladies and gentlemen in Madras, Bombay, Poona, Lahore and Lucknow and her musical skill has been admired everywhere. She knows all the classical melodies of Northern and Southern India and