Whole through in our life, we happen to encounter with numerous incidences, be it minor or major. Out of them, some give us thrilling sensation or pleasure. The memories of some of these events we carry with us all along in life. One such memoir of the same flavour, never could erase from my memory bank. The reason was, that was my first ever experience of life to attend such a colorful event. At least to me, that is categorized as such. In fact, after passing of my tenth standard with science subjects as a part of syllabus from my hinterland high school, I was forced to seek admission in a distant city located Intermediate college, where only I could continue my further study with science subjects.
The renown of the city college
This city college had a renown, since it was run and manged by an All India Vedic Trust and it had cluster of colleges. This cluster included my Intermediate college, that conducted education from sixth standard up to 12th standard. Apart from this Intermediate college, it too used to run some degree colleges in the same vast periphery with ample approach. As far as my this city Intermediate college was concerned, it had an another unique merit in its name. If a student failed to seek admission in any other reputed school of the city on merit, he was certainly to get admission here. This college as a part of cluster of colleges was like an ocean for students, who happened to come from humble back ground and with a poor merit.
Another noticing liberal policy of this college was worth mentioning. In other colleges, it was a bye- law, if you fail to attend your classes up to the prescribed norms of attendances, you could be debarred to appear in yearly exams. But, no any such debarring policy existed here. Once you are enrolled as student here, you were entitled to to appear in yearly exams, whether you are fully prepared or not. Another facility, it provided was, from eleventh standard you could opt either for Hindi medium or English medium as your educational curriculum. Though, students from both the categories had their separate section to ease this difference. Thirdly, being facilitated with advanced curriculum in both the languages, it provided an atmosphere for abundant cultural activities for students. these cultural programs indeed were of colorful shades.
My experience as a novice
Well Sir! As a novice student, at the age of merely fifteen years, myself, the boy who had been enrolled as a student with Biology subject, as one of the chosen subjects, got chanced to to attend the first ever such sort of colorful program of my life. The program was sponsored by our biology faculty. This program was scheduled to be organized at the early evening of the first week of the October month. At that period of time, the new session of college began from the month of the early July. In our India, generally the month of October begins with festivities of the arrival of Hindu festival of “Dushhera.” The first main phase of the oncoming grand festival of “Diwali,” the festival of lights.
Truly say, as a new student who had come from a rural back ground, I just had been in the process to get acclimatized in the new ambiance of the college. Not only I, even other students with Hindi medium of my category too attended the program with a sense of inquisitiveness. That was the event, that got ingrained indelibly into my memory bank, because of certain reasons.
Why I remember all that
The first main factor was, the huge library – hall of the college where program got conducted. For the first time, it came to my ken, it was built with multipurpose facilities. In common, it was used as a vast reading hall. But when this kind of situation needed, it could be used as an auditorium, simply by making the seat arrangement. Another factor was, for the first time in my life, I chanced to watch the live Orchestra- program and entirely enjoyed that too. The orchestra program was led by a majestic main Male singer. He was a professional popular singer of the city. In the same program, my co-students made me inform that he was known as ” Kishor Kumar” of the city. And this entitlement was confined not to our city only, his fame spread to other adjacent districts as well.
The reputation of the Singer
In those bye gone days, it was a status symbol for affluent people to engage his Orchestra-party in wedding functions. Now, reader can easily guess, of what an old time I am talking about! I am talking all this, of and about the seventh decade of last twentieth century. Prior to proceed further, I would like to say some thing about the genuine talent of the main singer of the Orchestra party. Might be, when I said he was acclaimed as the Kishor Kumar of the city, some people be confused, who are not known to this name, being themselves as a non Hindi spoken people. The name of Kishor Kumar is at par to Elvis Priestley in Hindi Cine industry.
Other things, I feel worth mentioning are, for a student like me who had been enrolled in this college and belonged to a humble back ground, this experience was like stepping into a tinsel city glamorous world. To attend a program in evening, glittering with decorous miniature lights was like walking into a dream land. To me it was tantamount to, as if, a wayfarer been provided a facility to have a ride in a helicopter. That was the time, when back in my village, no electricity been introduced. In village life, our every night festivities in the name of wedding functions or other religious functions were conducted under the light of Patromax lamp.
Patromax lamp was a lighting device, lit by kerosen oil (paraffin oil). It worked on the same principle of stove furnace in which firstly the pressure is accumulate inside the fuel tank by pumping it with hand. This pressure creates a pressure and a thin jet emits out and takes the shape of high flame when lit on with the mantle. There in the pastoral life, in the name of musical event in traditional marriages, old conventional instruments were played and folk songs were sung by women of the community.
Men with skill
In every this kind of nightly village function, some people having financial back up, happened to arrange the gramophone-record -player instrument on rent. That had had power back up with a large battery. A black disc were put on the record player and a pin was drawn upon it. When pin ran over the disc, it helped producing the sound of the song, that got amplified through a loud speaker. The loud sound of the musical song resonated all around. Not only children, young men; even old people happened to make crowd around the gramophone machine with a sense of curiosity.
In the marriage function, the gramophone operator and the person skilled to light and operate the patromax lamp were looked with an awe. The citation of gramophone, I am giving with the sole purpose, so I can tell you, how I felt watching the live Orchestra-program for the first time in life. On gramophone, songs too were orchestrated with musical instruments, but in real life, I was going to witness and enjoy those same instruments played live and to experience how they worked . ( Cont) …. Penned by — Vinay Pharasi …
