The renowned tabla artist, Taal mani Pt. Vinayak Phatak was introduced to music by his father Shri. Sitaram Phatak. His first guru was Pt. Pu.La. Samant in 1964. He has played tabla using the styles of Ajarara, Dilli purab gharanas and had an influence of the Goan style of playing tabla. Pt Vinayak ji has accompanied various maestros such as Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Pt. Ram Marathe, Pt. Gajanan Joshi, Sau Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Malini Rajurkar, Asha Khadilkar and Pt. Rohini Bhate. Performing a jugalbandi with the famous Pakhwaj player Pt. Vasantrav Ghorpadkar was a memorable highlight.
Today many of his students are professional tabla artists, including his son Mr. Prashant Phatak and his daughter Dr. Rewa Natu, who is a famous Indian classical singer.