Uthe sabke kadam : The Indian Adler Trio

From Left manthan, Devansh and Amit are promising young stars of new age harmonicas.
Studying in the tenth std they feel relaxed while playing harmonica. Despite their tight schedules in studies they agreed to pray and play harmonica for the well being of patients.....yes at this age...
this happens only in India......
I know there are also a couple of young girls playing harmonica.....
Where are you ?????
Pl send your videos let the whole world watch and appreciate your talent...
Harmonica club of Gujarat will always promote the youth i promise.

They Captivated the Audience

Players of the Harmonica Club of Gujarat were invited to perform at Baroda's Gandhi Nagar Gruh (Town Hall) on July 26, 2008 in memory of Mohammed Rafi, the great Hindi film playback singer. Manohar Vaidya and Yogesh Bhatt enthralled the audience with their rendition of the song 'Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki, Na Jaane Tum Kab Aoge. Here are some photographs that reflect the mood.

Jaane kaha gaya Jigar mera : M. K. Vaidya

One of the trustees of Harmonica Club of Gujarat shri M.K.Vaidya has been playing with harmonica for atleast 50 years now. He is too good at Key board and Violin. Our Teacher.....Friend...and a Guide..........Our Asset too.

Aaj Kal Tere Mere : Group song

Under the leadership of one of the respected trustees Apoorvabhai, members played aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche hai har jaban par........
Ya they were right.... Har jaban par

Ye Dil Muzhe Bata de : Yusufchacha

Yusufchacha played aye dil muzhe bata de. He was deeply satisfied after playing in the Cancer Hospital.

Aum Jay Jagdish Hare : Amjadbhai Pathan

What a start it was with Aum Jay Jagdish Hare in the cancer hospital. Everyone prayed for the patients for their well beings.
CAMA hall was full with patients and their relatives.
All the players now the members of harmonica club of Gujarat enjoyed the Show...DIL SE...........

Thank you my friends - Yogesh Bhatt

Some times you do not find right words to express your feelings. The same things happened to me today. It was my birthday yesterday, but we (Manohar Vaidya, Nachiketa Desai and I) had gone to Baroda to perform as amateur Harmonica players and so could not celebrate the birthday.

Today, the Harmonica players had gathered together as usual. I also joined them. The players came one by one. I was unaware of their sweet and secret conspiracy to celebrate my birthday. After about one and a half hour when most players had arrived and it was time to disperse, one of the players secretly took out a bouquet of fresh flowers and presented it to me. Another player took out a box of birthday cake and pushed a piece into my mouth. Three players took out their Harmonica and started playing HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

It was so overwhelming and so sudden that I did not know how to reciprocate. It was my 59^th birthday. And, perhaps this was the first birthday that was celebrated like this with FRIENDS. I did not know how friends could be. In fact, I had no friends at all, being a typical judge that I was. Perhaps my nature was such that people did not like to come close to me. I had addressed them in this write up as Harmonica Players. But, now I will call them my friends. They are TAPAN BHATT, NACHIKETA DESAI, MANOHARBHAI VAIDYA, PIYUSH PANDYA, ALEX LOBO, KUMARPAL SHAH, MANOHARBHAI MAJITHIA. There are also other friends who could not come today but conveyed their good wishes to me. I thank them all.

MY FRIENDS, once again I am indebted to all of you, who have given me a different sight to look at the life which I was thinking as boring till now. I now have a new vision, am a student again at 59, many things to learn and all that without tension or stress.

Birthday Boy: Yogesh Bhatt

Manohar Vaidya and Yogesh Bhatt were the star performers at the musical evening held in Baroda on Saturday in memory of legendary Hindi film playback singer Mohammed Rafi. (photo by Manish Vaidya)


Principal Judge Industrial Courts, Gujarat, Yogesh Bhatt celebrated his 59th birthday in Baroda by playing 'Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki, Na Jaane Tum Kab Aoge' to a thunderous applause from the music afficianados. Members of the Harmonica Club of Gujarat wished him a long musical life at their Sunday gathering at the Satyam Mall. There was pastry, flower and music. Here are some photographs:


Say 'Cheese everybody': Standing L-R Nachiketa and Tapan. Sitting: Chandramohan Bahadkar, Piyush Pandya, Yogesh Bhatt, Manohar Vaidya, Manohar Majithia and Alex Lobo


Alex Lobo presents a bouquet to Yogesh Bhatt, while Manohar Majithia looks on.


Yogesh Bhatt hands over a piece of cake to Tapan Bhatt.


It's your turn Nachiketa, forget about diabetes.


Eat it Lobo, I'm not looking.


Kumar Pal Shah stuffs a piece of cake in the birthday boy's mouth.


Professor Piyush Pandya gets his share from the birthday boy.

They touched our soul

We were invited by Jayendra Shah to perform on stage with him in Baroda last night (Saturday) to pay tribute to legendary Hindi playback singer Late Mohammed Rafi. Four of us - Manohar Vaidya, Yogesh Bhatt, Devansh (the ten-year-old youngest member of the Harmonica Club) and I reached Baroda at around 6.30 p.m. It was Yogesh Bhatt's birthday too and so his wife and daughter were accompanying him. While Devansh had his parents with him.

We had decided to meet at the Bandstand of Kamati Baug, the central park in Baroda, where we had performed last month. On our arrival, Amjad Khan Pathan, popularly known as Babubhai, Chavan Sahab, Roopesh, Arvind Kumar and a few other players from Baroda soon arrived. They had brought some hot dal wada and cold drinking water for us. Apurva Bhatt arrived soon. He had come straight from his office on learning about our arrival.

While we were having the snacks, news arrived of the serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad. It was shocking - 17 blasts within just about half an hour all across the Eastern Ahmedabad, killing 30 and injuring hundreds others. Baroda too is known as a communally sensitive city. We were in an utter state of confusion, not knowing if the evening's programme was still on or had been canceled.

"Not to worry, everything is going to be OK. Let's all play the song - Jahan Daal Daal Par Sone Ki Chidiya Karti Hai Basera, Yeh Bharat Desh Hai Mera," said Apurva Bhatt. Amjad, Roopesh and Chavan took the cue and began playing the song. A small crowd gathered and listened to them in rapt attention.

We, from Ahmedabad, were getting calls from our friends and relatives giving us accounts of the mayhem in the city. We were discussing whether to spend the night in Baroda or return to Ahmedabad. I being a journalist and Yogesh Bhatt being a senior member of the judiciary could easily get accommodation in the government circuit house.

"All of you please stay with me at my home. We have plenty of space to accommodate all of you," said Amjad Khan Pathan. "Though my place is small and is located in a troubl-prone locality, you all can stay with me too," said Apurva Bhatt. Manish Vaidya, a photographer with the Press Trust of India, too reassured us that we will be safe with him at his home.

We were still not sure if the evening's programme would be held, the town hall, where it was to be held, being close to the densely populated and violence-prone walled city. "The life around the town hall is absolutely normal. The programme will happen. Let's all go to the hall," said Apurva Bhatt.

We had about 2 hours before the program was to start and wanted to utilize the time in practising the songs we had chosen to play. We began practising in the green room of the hall, behind the stage. We were lucky to have the able guidance of Apurva Bhatt, who is an accomplished harmonica player. He immediately spotted the flaws and corrected us. This helped us gain confidence and we were all ready for the show.

The star performer was singer Jayendra Shah who sang all-time favourite songs of Mohammed Rafi. The harmonica players were to present songs between his numbers. The hall, with a capacity to seat over 500 people, was nearly full. The audience comprised of the elite of Baroda city - the mayor and two MLAs and some senior administrative officers being the main guests.

After a few songs rendered by Jayendra Shah, the turn of harmonica players came. The first performance was that by Manohar Vaidya and Yogesh Bhatt. They were greeted with a thunderous applause from the audience as soon as the first few notes of the classic 'Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki, Na Jaane Tum Kab Aoge' were played by Manohar Vaidya. For Yogesh Bhatt, this was his first ever experience on the stage and was obviously very nervous.

However, his nervousness did not get reflected in his performance which turned out to be excellent as was evident from the tumultous applause from the audience. Several people from the audience came backstage to greet them. Even the singers congratulated them for their grand performance.

Even while we were all looking forward to a wonderful evening, a posse of policemen arrived backstage to inform the organizers of the police commissioner's order to stop the function immediately in view of the tense situation prevailing in the city in the wake of the serial bomb blasts. And, the evening had to be wound up abruptly.

None of the players from Baroda was willing to let us return to Ahmedabad and insisted we spend the night at their place. However, we decided to return to Ahmedabad after we were reassured by some journalists that it was safe to travel.

Think Global Act Local

The Harmonica Blog is fast becoming the favourite destination of Harmonica lovers all across the globe, if the red dots on today's visitor's map is any indication. The Blog had 15 clusters of visitors from North America - each cluster representing 1-09 visitors, 4 from South America, 10 from across Europe, two from North Africa, 14 from India, one from the Gulf countries, one from Vietnam, one from Indonesia and two from Australia.

While such an overwhelming response was heartening, one missed the opportunity of thanking each individual and connecting with them through their Blog and or email. We appeal to all the visitors to the blog not to just leave behind your comments but make contribution in terms of putting down in writing their personal experience with this lovely musical instrument. Let us all share our experience, video. audio, photographs, anecdotes, profiles.

Our blog is open to all harmonica lovers in the world. Let's have discussion forums, exchange of ideas, and even exchange of visits to each others' places. Music knows no boundaries.