Old Fellow!

Old fellow was still there, lying like an old skeleton! I carefully lifted him from wooden base; spider webs had run out of all imaginations while decorating his almost empty stomach all these years.  A wry smile, that’s what I could give to defunct Radio cum Cassette player; which was once like a close friend to me.

 I found him in our old house few days back while searching for something. Years spent there with all those sounds with which this place was once buzzing; all flashed in front of me..!

It was early 2000’s. A world was slowly opening for school going teenager. Every day was new experience. People still used to gather around street side shops to get glimpses of young Tendulkar’s batting, Kumar Sanu and Nadeem-Shravan were still appearing on stack of cassettes put out for sale in stalls and young kids like me were still used to gather on grounds after school to win a 2 Rupees prize Cricket matches!

This fella was already quite old when my Uncle brought it to our home. I was no stranger to music though. That was era of 90’s when bhopu was norm for every function at village sides and all those hit numbers were played loudly all day long. Naturally I picked up songs from roadside shops, marriage ceremonies and occasional TV programs from neighbouring houses. Plus knowing songs used to come handy in playing Antaksharis!

Now I had gadget but no cassettes to play! One of my friends gave me few from his collection to save me from enigma.  Buying anything was far from imagination that time!  So now I had two cassettes, I remember one of them was of ‘Mohabbatein’ and other one was of famous Nadeem-Shravan duo. But joyride didn’t last long. Old fellow damaged both of them in quick time and soon I had to listen ‘Hum ko humeen se churalo ’ in 2X speed! I bared that too but when matter came to solving and collecting clump of cassette tape each time, I handed old fellow to his doctor!

I was hopeful but cassette player had given in. So I had to adhere to mechanic’s verdict, and that’s how I found that this fella could sing whole day without damaging my friend’s property! FM radio kit inside him was still good to go few more miles!

From next day, start of our day and ‘Namaskar, he akash vaanichya prasaran seveche Pune Kendra ahe (Nakaskar, this is Pune Akaashvaani )  ’ and ‘Ye hai vividh bharati’  became synonymous! And it was all same till we decided to leave old fellow with old house in 2007.

Lata, Kishore, Rafi Sahab, Sachinda, RD, hemantda, Talat, Udit, Sanu, Alka..  I owe their introduction to my ears  to Old fellow!  

Fella accompanied me all these years. It could not pick newly launched private radio channels but I remember I opened him numerous times and did various kinds of operations on his old limbs. It gave me shock couple of tim es when I threatened his life with DC!  But I found that he could play Cricket match commentary as well! He made my 2003 world cup memorable when I had to study too for SSC exams and couldn’t afford missing rampaging Sachin!

Anxious earlier days of college were settled with ‘Ruk jana nahi tu kahi haar ke’..  And flying butterflies after some pleasing eye contacts were met with ‘Iss pyar se meri taraf na dekho’.. All constructive years were taken care of with some melodies! Lucky I!! 

I exactly don’t remember what old fellow gave me last time before his retirement.  But remember that he was surely dumped for new colour TV we bought. Melody had to make way for noise! Then he fade into oblivion..  Sadly nobody might have noticed when his voice have felt silent for one last time, may be some bugs would have celebrating by eating his wiry limbs that night! 

 Today, after having access to every music and having every song only finger taps away, that eagerness  in moving nob of old fellow to find who was going to be there on Staturday’s ‘aaj ke fankar’, is long faded away with growing up! 

I had to keep him back to his resting place. All his remaining dangling wires were up there to say good bye to kid who seated alongside him for hours to listen his crumbling voice telling story of melodies!