Ramsharan Darnal
  Based on an interview
 
Ramsharan Darnal, born in 1937 Kathmandu, has spent decades contributing to the research and publishing articles on music and musical instruments. He continued his studies at Durbar High School and then at Robert High School, Darjeeling. He is cheerful to have introduced some Western instruments into Kathmandu after learning to play them when he was in Calcutta. He performed at hotels and was active with music, traditional activities, and musical personalities.

He says that after the sad demise of his mother, when his house collapsed during the monsoon rain in 1968, his life took a new turn. He still recollects the pain he had to go through during that terrible time. The Royal Nepal Academy didn't even provide him with any loan to rebuild his house when around Rs.2,500,000 worth instruments were all destroyed. Having no instruments to play with, he was forced to walk a new path of researching and publishing reports on music and musical instruments.

He spent a lot of time inquiring about folk songs, music, and the instruments of different places in Nepal. His first article on this subject was printed in a newsletter published in Banaras. It was only later that his works were printed in local newspapers based in Kathmandu. He, who has traveled and studied the music, musical instruments, and tradition around the whole of Nepal except for two districts Humla and Jumla, is very worried about the fact that we are slowly losing many traditional objects of great importance.

Ramsharan Darnal was a member of the Royal Nepal Academy, since 1959 and of other imminent organizations related with music. He suggests the country can benefit in many ways by exhibiting the different musical instruments collected by the Royal Nepal Academy. He highly demands the research and training of different tunes and instruments used by the traditional musical society of Gandarbh, Damai, and Badi.

Though he was born in a family with ancestral musical background, his father was a major in the Royal Nepal Army. He lives at Kaldhara and has three sons and a daughter. Among his three sons, one is an engineer and another an archaeologist.

Ramsharan Darnal has been awarded with Dr. Ambedkar Fellowship and Gorkha Dashin Bahu. During his errands, he has visited foreign countries as Thailand and Japan. He has published eight books on music, musical instruments and tradition, among which four are highly acclaimed; and other three books are left to be released.