Manoj found his calling in music early on in life. He began his formal training at age seven, though his initiation was even earlier when he was all of three, singing bhajans while on a pilgrimage to Shirdi. By the time he was eleven, he was learning Hindustani music professionally under the tutelage of Mrs. Vineeta Tembe. His mentors include Pandit Prabhakar Karekar, Pandit Ramesh Prem and Mrs. Geeta Prem. Manoj is the recipient of scholarship for Hindustani classical vocal music from the Center for Cultural Resources and Talent government of India (CCRT) from the year 1988 to 1995. A rank-holder and a gold medalist from Mumbai University, he completed his Master of Fine Arts in Hindustani Classical Vocal Music in 1999. He was the recipient of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi scholarship Hindustani music at post-graduate level in 1998-99. He has won several awards, including the Sur Singar Samsad Award in 1995 for light vocal. Manoj teaches Hindustani classical and light music (vocal and harmonium) at the Swarras School of Music, Glen Mills Pennsylvania. His repertoire includes Hindustani classical (Khayal), semi-classical (Thumri, Dadra), bhajans, ghazals and film songs in Hindi, Marathi and other languages, and also Marathi Abhang, Bhavgeet and Natya Sangeet. Manoj has performed since 1989 and given performances in India at places like Mumbai, Pune, Kerala and Hyderabad. Since he moved to the US in 2004, he has performed extensively throughout the country.