MUMBAI: Tochi Raina recently won the GiMA Award for Best Male singer for the song 'Kabira', from Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. Hailing from a musical background, the 48 year old feels privileged to be a part of the family, which has played an instrumental role in shaping his music career.

"My journey started when I was a teenager in search of God, and suddenly I bumped into a Sufi saint who explained to me the philosophy of life. Talking about music, it was and will always be a part of my life and receiving an award for my work will always be special," he said to Radioandmusic.com's Dhairya Ingle. His learning experience extends up to 28 years in all kinds of music forms i.e., Singing, Instrument playing, composing, etc. He learned music since his childhood, but he was only pointed in the right direction in 1981.

All that he is, Raina credits to his Gurus and is very grateful to all of them. However, his first Guru, the late Pt. Vinod Kumar (disciple of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan) who won a Tansen Award at the age of 19, showed him the exact path and is very close to his heart.

Raina got his first break for the song 'Bulle Shah' for the film 'A Wednesday' immediately after his mother passed away. "I still remember I was at Juhu giving my classes when I got the news of my mother's demise and I still was taking my classes. And immediately after that I got an offer for my first break. Ma jate Jate bhi kitna bada break de gaye," he recalled.

During his professional journey he worked for jingles, musical and stage shows etc. Raina attributes all his success to his wife who has been with him throughout his struggles.