Mumbai: The Harmonium has produced legendary melodies at the hands of music stalwarts in India over the ages and music-lovers are presently in for a treat as the Haribhau Vishwanath Group of Musical Industries (HVGMI) is organizing its centenary celebration on January 5, 2025 in a programme featuring a symphony of instrumental performances.
The event will feature a mesmerizing recital by Santoor Maestro Rahul Sharma with Ojas Adhiya on tabla, Harmonium jugalbandhi by Aditya Oke and Satyajit Prabhu with Anil Karanjvakar (dholki) and Prasad Padhye (tabla), and Dholki jugalbandhi by renowned duo Nilesh Parab and Krishna Musale.
“Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma performed at HVGMI’s 75th anniversary, and now his son Rahul Sharma will be performing at the centenary celebrations,” said Dinesh Diwane of HVGMI told media.
“The harmonium market has been witnessing increasing exports over the years with music-lovers globally seeking a genuine instrument. However, the internet is drawing Indian +fly-by-night+ operators supplying bad pieces to the international web-order market and thus giving Indian manufacturers a bad name,” Dinesh Diwane told this correspondent recently.
“People from USA, Holland, Paris, Germany and even African countries have been ordering the harmonium, while Japanese buyers have been coming personally to India to buy custom-made ones,” he said while noting that the centenary celebrations would also create awareness about the ‘fake-makers’ and the genuine manufacturers.
Meanwhile, the harmonium topic evoked cherished memories from Padma Diwane of HVGMI. “Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s random visits from Pune to the HVGMI’s then lone Dadar store in Bombay transformed it into a gathering place for the musical artistes community, as he used to phone his friends to meet him there.”
Another memory is of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, whose personal harmonium is being preserved as a cherished keepsake by her sister Usha Mangeshkar.
“After Lata Mangeshkar passed away, Dinesh Diwane was asked by her sister Usha to retune the instrument – which he did – while treasuring the memory of that opportunity to fix the instrument that had been used by that great singer to produce the memorable songs that enthralled music-lovers over the years.”
“At our 75 years event, legendary music director Naushad – despite having fever – arrived there to narrate about that time when that shopowner Haribhau Vishwanath recognized his talent and gave him a harmonium on credit, which he paid off later from his successes.”
