Having been initiated into music in his early childhood by his father, he later received training from stalwarts in three major traditions: in the Gwalior tradition by Yadavrao Joshi and Shankarrao Kulkarni, in the Kirana tradition by Sureshbabu Mane, and in the Jaipur tradition by Naththan Khan and Mogubai Kurdikar.
While he was a practising chartered accountant of fifty years standing and was senior partner in the Batliboi Purohit chartered accountancy firm in Mumbai, India, he claimed music as his first love. He shunned the concert stage, but performed regularly on the All India Radio, Bombay, from 1932 to 1985. In addition, he was connected with many musical institutions in various capacities.
He and his friend Professor Deodhar are known to have started a new trend in music criticism.
Vamanrao Deshpande was for many years closely associated with stalwart musicians, including Pint Kumar Gandharva, Pint Bhimsen Joshi, Smt.
Kishori Amonkar among many others He also acted as mentor and guide to many upcoming musicians of the time.
Foreign some years he was a member of the central audition board of the All India Radio and of the panel of judges of the All India Radio"s music competitions. He was also a member of the arts committee of the Maharashtra state Board of Literature and Culture and of the University of Bombay for seventeen years.
