Marching to the beat of the drum

By Sanjeev Chawla

They make ceremonies complete — the ceremonies and rituals in which India lives. They are a part of colourful ceremonies, but yet they do not hesitate to be a part of sad moments.

These are bugles, trumpets, drums and clarinets. And the hub of this musical industry is Meerut, to be more precise, the Jali Kothi area of Meerut, the market leadership of which is not confined to India alone but extends its frontiers to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Some of the reputed manufacturers also find their berth in the most sophisticated market of America.

"This musical ambassador of the country perfected the art of manufacturing drums, trumpets, bugles etc long back well before Partition when all these instruments used to be imported from the "West" says Umar Farook, 38, who is the second generation entrepreneur and partner in the Universal Band Company in the Jali Kothi area of Meerut. In 1857 one incident of burning of a Kothi in this area during the British period gave the locality the present name, I was told by Mohammad Asfaq during a chat, who is in this trade for the last many decades.

"The musical instruments of Meerut are one of the best in Asia, and Meerut is one of the very few suppliers to Asian markets", says Sayeed Mian, 75, whose father Issac Mian, along with his friend Nadir Ali, pioneered the art of bands and musical equipment since 1885". First we used to import the equipment from far-off countries like Britain and France. The first Indianised band was rolled out in 1930," adds Mian ji., His unit is spread over a large area in the congested Jali Kothi locality. "Recently we have collaborated with Boosey of the UK for manufacturing state-of- art trumpets, and we will be the sole exporters to the whole of Asia" says Sayeed Mian. The firm is collaborating with Boosey and is already set to roll out a world-famous Boosey product trumpet. The plant is set up in Gulmuthi in Bulandshahr.

Trumpets are of universal size of 21 inches and range from Rs 250 to Rs 400. The Boosey trumpet is going to cost about Rs 5000. Clarinet of 22 inches (for the bandmaster will cost Rs 350. Most of the supplies of the bugle goes to the Indian Army, the BSF and other armed forces, says Umar Farook.

This musical cottage industry of instruments is dominated by small-scale units. "The government has not taken any step to infuse technology in this industry," laments Mohammad Hanif 42, who is a craftsman of these instruments and has inherited the art from his parents. Mohammed Sayeed, 38, another craftsman and an expert in trumpets, holds similar views". " Despite this our city is the leader in making these equipments, which are procured even by Moradabad exporters for despatch to western countries" adds Sayeed. "Our exports are to America only", says Sayeed Mian, whose famous company Nadir Ali & Co., is manufacturing the best possible equipment. "Most of the manufacturers do not adhere to quality standards and hence our products are often rejected in the global market", laments Mian.