Were it not for Balasaheb, I'd have been a tabla player: Raj Thackeray

Despite the fact that Raj Thackeray broke away and formed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Balasaheb loved him like his own son. Raj, during one of his interactions, had revealed that he would have become a tabla player rather than a cartoonist if it were not for Balasaheb.

It was during Raj’s childhood that his father and Balasaheb’s younger brother Shrikant Thackeray asked Raj to take classes to learn tabla. Raj started learning the tabla, and when Balasaheb came to know about it one evening, he intervened.

Balasaheb went to his younger brother and told him, “Playing tabla will cause Raj’s fingers to become heavy, and he won’t come out with fine lines. You can’t prevent this boy from being a cartoonist by teaching him tabla. Stop his tabla classes.” Raj said it was because of Balasaheb that he became a cartoonist following in his uncle’s footsteps.