Veteran from Hyderabad comes calling

The Harmonica Club of Gujarat had the privilege of playing host to veteran mouth organ player from Hyderabad, Ramakrishna Sabnavees recently. Sabnavees has been in contact with several of the club members ever since the formation of the HCG more than two years ago. A self-taught man, Sabnavees is a great fan of Mohammed Rafi whose many lilting songs he plays on the harmonica.

When we informed Sabnavees about HCG's latest initiative of coming out with an audio CD of songs played by the members, he was thrilled and expressed his desire to visit us while we recorded the songs in a studio. "Sabnavees sahab, would you mind playing a few songs for the CD of HCG?" asked club secretary Tapan Bhatt. "Of course not, in fact, I shall be more than happy to be a part of the team effort of the HCG. I consider myself a member of the HCG," he said.

Sabnavees took leave from his office and came to Ahmedabad. During his two-day stay, he not only recorded a couple of songs for the CD but also played his favourite numbers to the accompaniment of congos by master musician Paresh Bhatia at an evening gathering at Bansi Gajjar's bungalow.