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I don’t know how to express my feelings because I haven’t been integral to the musically rich legacy left behind. My elder brother, father and grandfather were the soul of the music house. However, I know the story. So, allow me to share it.
As you know, our store is called ‘Pratap Music House’. Pratap Singh was my grandfather. He started the business in 1885 as ‘Raag Ghar’ in Lahore. After that, he renamed the store ‘Pratap Singh ka Raag Ghar’. Then, Gooron ka raaz hona suru hua to unhone ‘Pratap Music House’ kar diya. When he passed away in early 1900, my father, Gurdyal Singh, took over the business. He was around 19 years at that time. In 1943, we bought an Indian Music Company in Mussoorie and continued with the Lahore store. After partition, we closed the Lahore store and ran the Mussoorie store till the early 1960s and then moved to Dehradun in between. My father continued till 1967, and my brother, Ajit Singh, took over the store after my father left.
While I shifted abroad, my brother became a famous musician and ran the business. We grew up together and were more like friends than brothers. He was one of the few musicians in our country who played a rare instrument called ‘Vichitra Veena’. Only four musicians could play that instruments in our country. He travelled all over the world and represented India in various music festivals. You know when ‘The Beatles’, the famous Rock band, came to Rishikesh to learn transcendental meditation from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, they visited our store and ordered a customised pedal harmonium. Luckily it was George Harison’s 25th birthday when they visited. Ajit had played ‘Vichirtra Veena’ for them.
Strangely, I’m not a music guy. I know things about music as it runs in the family. I do play the piano. But honestly, even my granddaughter plays better than me. I was a marketing manager for a music company in Canada.
My brother had a heart condition. But he lived his life well, leaving behind an unmatchable legacy. He wasn’t married, so we don’t have anyone to take over. And that’s why I’m here to wind up the store. It feels strange to wind up the rich legacy. But, they say, ‘Every beginning has an end.’ And so we are inching towards the end of ‘Pratap Music House’. It will be gone soon!
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