Magic of Mouth Organ

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He popped up one day on my chat window saying, "Kyon Raja Mujhe Pehchaana?". I could hardly believe that Ashok Bhandari, my classmate in Banaras Hindu University, would find me after almost 30 years. Since we left the university in 1978, Ashok had become a professional magician, performing all over the world - Italy, Germany, Japan and Russia.

Ashok found me from my esnips page where I had uploaded some of my mouth organ numbers. He told me that he has been also playing mouth organ in all his magic shows. I had heard Ashok play mouth organ when we were in college. But, he was not a great player then. After almost 30 years of practice and performing on stage, Ashok had become a maestro - a wizard, a magician of music. He is a master of special effects - a one-man orchestra.

Ashok was so much inspired by the Harmonica Club of Gujarat and its blog that he decided to devote full time on playing harmonica. I was shocked when one day he told me that he is giving up performing magic shows and has decided to start a mouth organ training academy in Delhi.

"Mouth Organ is a magical instrument," he says. Ashok has turned this handy musical instrument into a wonderful object of performing art.

Harmonica enthusiasts can call him at 9999333104.

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Ye to batao ke tum : Sanjay

One more lovely song.

Shabba Kher : Sanjay Agarwal

Sanjay Agarwal played some old songs.

Ye zindagi usiki hai : Sanjay Agarwal

Who says Accounts and Music do not go well with each other !!!!!!
Some people say they left music because they did not have time ??????
Chartered Accountant Sanjay even from his very busy schedule finds time to practice and perform.

Man who met Milon Gupta : Sanjay Agarwal

' I was just trying to play harmonica in those days and came across one of the records of Milon Gupta, and that was the day I had decided to meet the mastreo.' All of us wanted to know the other part of the story when Sanjay Agarwal told this.

Chartered Accountant Sanjay Agarwal from Lucknow, visited Ahmedabad to meet all the members of harmonica club.

He said it was very difficult to locate Milon Gupta's house in Culcutta in those days. When he introduced himself as one of his fans, he was given a very warm welcome by Milon Gupta himself and blessed him with many tips to improvise. Those days he used to teach harmonica to the children living in his area.

Sanjay plays harmonica since many years. He played some beautiful songs. It was a nice learning session. He takes help of his son who has won many 1st prizes in violin concerts.

This little wonderful instrument has made many strangers, very close friends. Hasn't it ??

Rustom Karwa : The Man who lives music

" Yes, we can meet outside the church at Kemps Corner. I am wearing a peacock blue shirt and I sport a french beard." I was delighted that Rustom Karwa, harmonica maestro agreed to spare some time to meet me.

Rustom has been playing harmonica since childhood. He formed his small band comprising chord harmonica player Nani Sukhadwala and base player Adi Billimoria.

Rustom has played in many Hindi movies. These include Ek duje ke liye, Iman aur Dharam, Aashik hu baharo ka, Chhailababu, Mr. India, Saudagar and Vishwatma to name just a few. Whenever you hear someone whistling in any of the songs, chances are the man doing it is Rustom. Besides playing harmonica, Rustom whistles his way into the heart of the music lovers.

No wonder, Rustom has been a favourite of music directors like Laxmikant Pyarelal, Usha Khanna and Anu Malik who have used his whistling and harmonica playing skills to embellish their music.

"Blow your harmonica as if you are blowing out a candle and see the difference," says Rustom, letting me in into the secret of playing this delicate musical instrument. He had many secrets to share but we had very little time on hand. However, he was kind to play a few numbers and share his experiences with me for almost two hours while sitting in the Gaylord restaurant near the Churchgate station.

Rustom can carry out minor repairs of harmonica, a service he provides to his fans and followers. Though harmonica is his first love, Rustom believes that to play any instrument one must have an ear for music and an eye for details.

Rustom played the popular number 'Lara's Theme' from the film 'Dr Zhivago' specially for me to capture the video for the Harmonica Club blog.

I have also captured a clip of his whistling - but of that sometime later.

11th song : Thandi hawa ye...

Piyush Pandya and Manohar Vaidya.

10th Song : The Group Song

Yaad kiya dil ne kaha ho tum.

9th song : Chakke pe chakka

Kumarpal Shah and Manohar Vaidya.

8th song : Gadi Bula rahi hai

Apoorva Bhatt and Rupesh Parmar.
Both of them play this song very well with whisteling and the effect of steam engine.

This song requires a lot of stemina with rythemic tonguing.