Sunday, Sep 07, 2014
Mumbai: The rare sound and visual archival recordings of All India Radio and Doordarshan, the government-run national TV network, would soon be made available to public through mobile phone apps, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar announced.
“Sometimes I wonder about what to do with 400,000 hours recording archives of Akashwani and 300,000 hours of Doordarshan,” said Javadekar at a book release function in Mumbai on Saturday evening. He said this was a treasure and should be made open to the public.
“We are trying to bring it in the form of mobile app so that the treasure will reach a maximum number of people,” he said while releasing the book ‘The Wonder That Was Cylinder’ by Amar Nath Sharma and Anukriti Sharma.
Endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark on Teachers’ Day, Javadekar emphasised the role of extra-curricular activities in education and the need for holistic learning, of which music, art and culture were essential parts. “There is music in every aspect of life. Without music, tune and rhythm, life will be bland.”
Complimenting the authors of the book that traces the journey of Indian sound recording from the era of phonographs and wax cylinder recordings of early 1900s, the minister told the authors, “You have done a huge documentation work, worthy of highest praise.”
Explaining the book’s contents, author Amar Nath Sharma said, “India has no archive that documents the history of sound recording, be it classical or film music but it is commonly understood that recording began in 1902 after the advent of the disc that is played on the gramophone. However, we have found wax cylinders dating back to 1899, and these are played on a phonograph.”
The book brings to light India’s remarkable legacy in music, theatre and film through cylindrical recordings, discovered through Sharma’s personal efforts over the past 25 years. “My tryst with the history of sound recording in India began when I stumbled upon some recordings at a ‘kabadiwala’ shop in Calcutta [Kolkata] in the late 80s. Documentary evidence of India’s sound recording was lying on the streets of Calcutta,” Sharma reminisced.
Sharma’s collection includes ‘Vande Mataram’ in the voice of Rabindranath Tagore, which was recorded by Tagore’s friend Hemendra Bose in the wake of the Partition of Bengal in 1905. Vignettes of the fabled Gauhar Jaan, a Parsi theatre artiste from Jaipur named Miss Allah Bandi, as well as doyens like Peara Sahab figure prominently on the list.
Recordings of music maestros from Maharashtra such as Pandit Bhaurao Kolhatkar, Pandit Bhaskarbuwa Bakhle and Bal Gandharva are also found. The father of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke has spoken about the making of ‘Raja Harishchandra’ as well.
Cylinders are hollow wax rolls about six inches in length that are played on a phonograph. The phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison but fell into disuse with the entry of the circular disc in 1902. Interestingly, Sharma bought his phonograph from Mumbai’s Chor (thieves) Bazaar.
By profession, Sharma is the Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise and a chronicler of Indian musical archive by passion. His book is accompanied by a DVD containing 18 minutes of early recordings and priced at Rs6,000 (Dh365).
By Pamela Raghunath?Correspondent
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