Listening to the other side of the Anup Ghoshal LP record. It has a song special to me – মধুর নুপুর রুমু ঝুমু বাজে…

It was the first classical song – or at least the song with Teentaal as the beat on the tabla – that my sister had learnt. Many a practice was done to get back to the “som” correctly…

Reminded me of the old days of playing with Nazrulgeeti songs that my sister used to sing…

Brought out one more vinyl record from the India trip, cleaned it up and listed to it. Nazrulgeeti by Anup Ghoshal. One of the favorite songs for my mom is on Side A – “Nai chiniley amaay tumi”

I think the words go this way…
“Nai chiniley amaay tumi
Roibo aadhek chena
Chaand ki janey kothay fotey
Chaandni raater hena”

Roughly translated…
“So what if I remain a stranger to you
Somebody vaguely familiar to you?
The moon does not know either
Where the fragrant flowers bloom in the moonlit night”

To my parents, there was none – nor would there be ever – a better actor than Uttam Kumar. The one time they came to the US, Sharmila would get them Uttam Kumar movies from an Indian story nearby and they would spend whole day seeing the same movie over and over again.

Got a vinyl record from Kolkata with some of the songs from their favorite Uttam Kumar movies. Cleaned it up today and listened to it.

The first song was particularly melancholic…

“Boshe aachhi patha cheye
Faguner-o gaan geye
Joto bhabi bhuley jaabo
Mono maaney na”

I sit here awaiting you
Songs of spring humming in my mind
Much as I try to keep you off my mind
The heart defiantly refuses to comply.

… calming down with some instrumental music.

Loving the turntable…

Listening to the only LP record I have. I did rearrange the music/library room. Got my fountain pens and all ink downstairs now.

If you thought that my car is old – it has a cassette player – try this:

In a bit of head turning lunacy, I got myself a turntable (vinyl record player). I had been thinking about it for quite some time – but a discussion with Ashok Deb last Sunday at the Chalupa post-run coffee get together – led to a firm resolve on my side. Thinking no further, ordered a Japanese turntable (Denon). Which duly arrived on Wednesday. Assembled it and set it up last night.

Just the mere sight of it brings back too many memories. As a child, I was fascinated by this device – which we called “record player” for some reason. Way back in December 1974, we had visited my mother’s elder sister. They had a “record player”. Uncle (who I last saw in 2014) had shown me the device. He put a Hemanta Mukherjee vinyl on it and let it rip. I was fascinated by how the thing would keep going round and round and somehow produce an amazing sound. (I was 8 years old then). But uncle would not let me touch the vinyl. I figured they must be very important.

Much later, I found out that my school mate – Ashoe Das – had turntable too. I became a regular feature on Sundays at his house at 11AM. His parents used to love me and his dad allowed me a lot more freedom. He showed me how to load the vinyl, put the pin on it (I was always scared of putting the pin down lest I scratched the vinyl), how to change the speed etc. None of those folks are alive any more. I would have absolutely sent them this picture.

This week, I had to sit down and learn the basics of a turntable – you know direct motor versus belt (I got the belt), maintenance of the cartridge and all that. My next problem was how to get LP records. The problem is I do not listen to Western music. At all.

I spent an hour at the Vinyl shop in Alpharetta and came home with a Saxophone (jazz) record. That is all I am listening to all day.

Do you folks know where I might get good LP records – could be instrumental, Hindustani classical, Ghazal/Qawali and such?

Meanwhile, I am getting inexplicable thrills every time the thing starts rotating and the arm loads itself!!