Veena Sahasrabuddhe was born in a musical family. Her father Shankar Shripad Bodas was a disciple of vocalist Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. She began her early musical education under her father, and then under her brother Kashinath Shankar Bodas. She also learned Kathak dancing in her childhood. Sahasrabuddhe's musical mentors included Balwantrai Bhatt, Vasant Thakar, and Gajananrao Joshi. Later she also trained briefly under Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar. She had a bachelor's degree in vocal performance, Sanskrit literature, and English literature from Kanpur University, a master's degree in vocal performance from A.B.G.M.V. Mandal, and also master's degree in Sanskrit from Kanpur University. A.B.G.M.V. Mandal conferred on her a doctorate in vocal music in 1988. For some years she was the head of the department of music at SNDT Pune campus. A renowned vocalist, she performed all over India and in several countries around the world.
Childhood / early days
Her father Shankar Shripad Bodas was a contemporary of Omkarnath Thakur and Vinayakrao Patwardhan, and one of the earliest students of Vishnu Digambar Paluskar who founded the famous Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Bodas was specially deputed by Paluskar to move to Kanpur from Mumbai and spread music. Bodas and Shanta migrated to Kanpur in 1926, founded a Sangit Samaj and began teaching students, inviting other performers and propagating music. The Paluskar tradition was essentially in the Gwalior Gharana style and temperament of singing. Kanpur was an industrial town without any notable cultural life, particularly classical music. Until then, Uttar Pradesh had other places such as Banaras and Allahabad where music thrived. Veena's mother Shanta was also a singer and taught music in local schools in Kanpur. Veena grew up in this musical atmosphere at home. In addition to training from her father, she also trained with her brother Kashinath.
Death
Veena tai gave her last concert on December 2, 2012. She was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare degenerative neurological condition that affects one in a thousand people. This disease has no known cure. She died on June 29, 2016.
Awards
A prize in Vocal Classical category in a national competition for artists under age 25, conducted by All India Radio
