In early 19th century, Vasudeva Buwa Joshi was born in village Nagaon in district Thane in Maharastra. He had learned a little bit of Marathi and elemen¬tary Arithmetic. He was just in his teens when he heard about the great musicians of Gwalior. He made up his mind to go to Gwalior to learn music. As his parents were not in favour of his going to such a distant place, he fled away from home. He went on foot, crossing the Vindhyas and the Satpuda mountains and rivers like the Tapti and Narmada and reached Gwalior at last.
At Gwalior, he had to face the problem of board and lodg¬ing and getting regular lessons from a good teacher. Somehow he arranged for a free lodging and one meal at a Brahmin's place. Music teachers during those days did not impart regular training at a fixed time, nor was there any book in notation. A pupil had to serve his teacher, do his odd household chores and when it pleased the teacher's fancy; he would give a lesson once in a while. Vasudeva Buwa approached famous vocalist of Gwalior gharana Ustad Hassu Khan for instruction. He attended on him day and night & would go to his residence only for his meals. Hassu Khan was pleased with his devoted service and allowed him at first to hear him sing and play the Tanpura at his back. After some time, he staarted giving him lessons now and then. He was advised by his patron to go home, get married and then return to Gwalior with his wife to receive further lessons in music. Vasudeva Buwa followed his advice and returned to Gwalior after marriage.
Hassu Khan now used to teach him with zeal. He used to revise diligently every lesson at home and mastered the Khyala that had been taught to him. Hassu Khan came to have so much confidence in him that whenever any of his pupils made a mistake, he was asked to refer to Vdsudeva Buwa. In course of time, he became a favourite pupil of Hassu Khan and ac¬quired a good reputation as a musician. He went to Pune, Satara and Nepal where he gave very successful recitals at these places.
Vasudeva Buwa trained many musicians of whom Balakrishnabuwa Ichalakaranjikar was the most famous. Krishna Shastri Shukla and Lakshmana Rao were some of his other famous disciples. He passed away in about the year 1890 A.D.