Harmonica Club of Gujarat in News

Times of India, Ahmedabad, Saturday July 5, 2008





Some work, some play-ing harmonica! Sukrat Desai | TNN

Ahmedabad: His life is all about boring courtroom protocols and formidable piles of files. But, one additional sessions court judge takes a break from this monotony by playing old Hindi film numbers on a harmonica.

“My mouth organ has become a perfect means to fill the void in an insipid life and turn it into a symphony 24X7,” waxes the judge eloquently.

Ditto for orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Naresh Khandwala, who finds playing harmonica a convenient stress-buster. “The instrument is small, you can carry it in your pocket, and play it anywhere without battery cells or electricity. And, most importantly, it is good for health as it improves the respiratory system,” says the doc.

Welcome to Harmonica Club of Gujarat, a recentlyformed group of mouth organ enthusiasts from backgrounds as diverse as law, medicine, teaching and journalism, as also retired people who can devote plenty of time to music.

“This pocket-sized instrument once ruled the hearts of millions of youth during the 50s, 60s and even late 70s, with legendary Hindi film music directors such as SD Burman, RD Burman, OP Nayyar and Shankar Jaikishan making use of it to compose evergreen melodies,” says club coordinator, Tapan Bhatt.

It was his desire to perform at a college reunion, that drove the 44-year-old entrepreneur to attend classes in Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Bhatt learnt how to play harmonica in six months.

“It was through a discussion forum on a search engine and a social networking site that I came into contact with other harmonica players in Ahmedabad and we decided to meet,” he narrates.

The group first decided to meet every Sunday at Parimal Garden and then at Vastrapur lake. Shedding all inhibitions, about a dozen amateur harmonica players performed at both places, drawing a huge round of applause from onlookers.

The club, a not-for-profit organization that aims to promote use of the musical instrument, plans to have charity shows at hospitals and orphanages.

Devraj -2

Sholay's tune which inspired Devraj to take up mouth organ:

Devraj plays Blues Harp

Amitabh Bachchan playing melancholic tune in the film Sholay inspired Devraj to play harmonica. His father gave him a Chinese mouth organ. This was when he was studying in the sixth standard. Today, Devraj works with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation as a petroleum engineer and plays blues. Listen to him:

Tapan Bhatt: A Multi-faceted Man

We were invited to Tapan Bhatt's home for our weekly practice session. With rains finally arriving in Ahmedabad, a round of hot dalwada was what we were greeted and treated with by Tapan and his wife. As we get to interact more and more with the members of the Harmonica Club, we come to know of the various aspects of a member's personality. This time, we got a chance to have a glimpse of Tapan's varied interests - music, computer software, yoga, past life regression, hypnotism, interior design, post construction work, photography, spiritualism...
Tapan, a product of Puttaparthy, provides his services to the police in cracking crime. This he does by hypnotizing the suspects and criminals to make them confess to their crime. He also uses his hypnotizing powers to help mentally challenged children in their studies. It was his desire to perform at the annual function of his alma mater that Tapan picked up harmonica six months ago. My, what a fast learner he is. His only problem is that he has not listened to Hindi film songs.

Purnendu Dave

A lawyer by profession, Purnendu picked up harmonica while studying in college in Kolkata. His brother too had the same passion for the mouth organ and the two formed a small band which performed at college functions and at social gatherings. Soon they gathered more players to form a full-fledged orchestra. The contingency of a busy career made Purnendu give up music. His passion revived when he learned about the Harmonica Club of Gujarat.

We present here a few of the numbers he played recently:

Bansibhai Gajjar

The scion of a well-known business family, Bansibhai lives life kingsize. Passionate about harmonica, Bansibhai would crack any film song he likes, whatever may be the time. Plays the tremelo mouth organ.

Players of Baroda Performing in Ahmedabad

Here are the video recordings of some songs played by players from Baroda at a function held in Ahmedabad. Baroda has a fantastic pool of talent, as will become evident from these videos.

This is Camaraderie

The Harmonica Club of Gujarat has become an extended family for all its members. After performing in a public park, individual members have been inviting the rest to their homes.

The first to invite us was Prof. Piyush Pandya. We had a gala time at his place, playing mouth organ and being treated to tea, coffee and snacks. It was decided at this get together to go for formalizing the club into a trust and a registered society. Yogesh Bhatt, the principal judge of Industrial Courts, had already done the necessary ground work by preparing the draft of the proposed public trust.

The general body of the club unanimously elected Nachiketa Desai as the managing trustee and Tapan Bhatt as the secretary. The following were elected as the trustees:
1. Nachiketa Desai
2. Tapan Bhatt
3. Rohini A Jhala
4. Piyush Pandya
5. Manohar Vaidya
6. Paresh Bhatia
7. Bansi Gajjar

Registering a trust is a big hassle. For ordinary citizens it takes months. In Ahmedabad, on an average 5000 public trusts are registered every month. But not in our case, thanks to one of our members, who is a senior member of the judiciary. Yogesh Bhatt took the trouble of doing all the paper work and we could complete the process in just two days.

Yogesh Bhatt is so passionate about harmonica that he invited Nachiketa Desai and Manohar Vaidya to his home on a Saturday to practice with them. It was a day of marathon mouth organ playing - from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For Yogesh Bhatt playing on a chromatic instrument was a new experience. However, he is a fast learner, mainly because he has musical ears.

The very next day was a Sunday, the day the club members perform in a public park. This time it was at the Vastrapur Lake. After the performance, Purnendu Dave invited all of us to his home, which is walking distance from the lake, for a round of tea. We were not only treated to several rounds of tea there but we also played there for the benefit of the club's repository of video records. We will be putting up these videos on the blog soon.

Our next performance is going to be at a cancer hospital. The date is yet to be finalized.

Kiran Shah

A computer engineer. Studied and worked in U S for 17 years. Has been playing for many years. Also proficient in Acupressure and holistic healing. Collects first day covers by hobby.

Ichak Dana Bichak Dana

Dr.Naresh Khandwala

An orthopedic surgeon by profession, runs his hospital for almost 30 years. Snatches time from a hectic schedule to entertain self and others. Has been performing from his school days.

Aye Gul Badan, Phoolon Ki Mahak Kaanto Ki Chubhan, Tujhe Dekh Ke Kehta Hai Mera Man