About Tochi Raina
Tochi Rainaa was born on 2nd September, 1965 at Darbhanga (Bihar). He studied at Nepal. His family, which hailed from KOHAT (Pakistan), finally came and settled in Patiyala after the Indo-Pak partition. He has got music in his genes as he belongs to a musical family where his grandmother played the sitar. His uncle "Ratan Singh Ji" was a renowned violin player in Mumbai music industry.
He belongs to the musical Gharaana of Patiyala, his first guru for 10 years being "Pundit Vinod Kumar ji"(disciple of bade Ghulam Ali Khan). After that he also learned from "Bhure Khan", "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan", "Altaf Hussain Sarang"(Afganistan), "Pt. Mani Prasad Ji" and "Pt. Sitaram ji". He also learnt tabla for good 10 years and right now, he is learning western classical guitar from "Ram Ramchandran Ji".... Since his childhood, Sufi singing was his interest which is now his identity, we all know him as "TOCHI RAINAA (THE SUFI SINGER)"
Tochi Rainaa's learning experience extends up-to 28 years in all kinds of music forms i.e. singing, instrument playing, composing etc. He was a student of music and singing since his childhood but the right kind of direction that he got was only in 1981. His Gurus have taught him not only music but they also taught him to see breath. Slowly, he realized that he saw words, by which his thought got enlightened and by doing so, he turned to spirituality and Sufi music.
Although all his gurus have shown him the right direction and he gives credit to all of them, but it was only his first guru Late Pundit Vinod Kumarji (Student of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan) who showed him the exact path.
He is herewith mentioning the names of all the teachers who have made him what he is today. Although it is difficult to put all his teachers in sequence but it is just a preview. They are:-
1) Late Pundit Vinod Kumarji (Student of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan)
2) Ustad Bhure Khan Sahib
3) Pundit Mani Prasad Ji
4) Pundit Sita Ram Ji
5) Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sahib
6) Ustad Altaf Hussain Sarang (Afghanistan)
He would like to mention that he gives credit to all his teachers who, besides music, have taught him honesty, passion and love. And whatever he is today, it is just because of them. Last but not the least, he feels proud to be the son to his great parents.
Tochi Rainaa did a lot in jingles, serials etc. as a singer but he got recognition after his song 'OH BULLEH SHAH' hit the market in 2008 from the film A Wednesday, directed by Neeraj Pandey and released by UTV. He also played as the main lead in the promo song in the film. His most widely played song all over the world is "OH PARDESI" from the film Dev D, directed by Anurag Kashyap. Both these songs have been on the top charts and are still being appreciated today. Not only this, when Mr. A.R. Rehman was asked to select his top 10 songs he liked in 2008, both the songs sung by Tochi Rainaa made a score in top 3.
Tochi Rainaa has two next big dreams. One, he wants to sing for A.R. Rehman and second, he wants to formally announce his band which is named Bandagi.