At the noisy street of Nihikantalla, Ason, Roop Narayan and his three brothers line up each morning in the narrow room full of harmoniums and begin their tuning sessions. [break]
Outside the room, on top of the entrance, a tiny blue metal plaque says “Krishna Music Emporium.” It is one of the few places in Kathmandu where musicians, music enthusiasts and students, all come to get their harmoniums tuned.Begun in 1966 by Roop Narayan’s father, Shrikrishna Thaka, Krishna Music Emporium, as it later became known, sells and mends harmoniums, but Roop Narayan’s skill of catching the precise note for each key of the harmonium is what sets him apart from the hoards of musical instrument shops in the Kathmandu Valley.
Roop Narayan’s father had to rely on his own intuition to set the notes right on the harmoniums that came his way, and Roop Narayan also trained his ears in the same manner. But now he and his younger brothers make use of a digital tuner to gauge the precise note required by the keys of the harmoniums.
Has the digital tuner in any way lessened their skills? The Thaka brothers feel this is not true.
“Of course, we can do our work faster and we can be sure about the precision of each note, thanks to this digital tuner, but it doesn’t mean that our skills have lessened.” Balkrishna Thaka, Roop Narayan’s youngest brother is quick to reply.
It is Balkrishna, now 28, and with ten years of experience in his family business, who Roop Narayan feels will carry it ahead.
“He has a smart business sense. My other two brothers work hard, but are simple-minded,” Roop Narayan explains.
No wonder, it is Balkrishna who Roop Narayan trusts with choosing and bringing harmoniums in from various cities in India.
Balkrishna makes a trip to India each month to buy up to four-dozen harmoniums to be sold at their shop each month. While most of the harmoniums the Thaka brothers import are from Calcutta, Balkrishna also makes trips to Banaras, Samastipur and Delhi to fetch his choice instruments.
The major work of the Thaka brothers includes the tuning of all harmoniums they import as well.
“The scale of new harmoniums is always different, and we need to tune them so that the scale matches that of other instruments and can be used for professional recording,” shares Roop Narayan.
While guitars and keyboards have definitely replaced the harmonium as the favorite startup instrument for young music enthusiasts, the Thaka brothers say harmonium sales from their shop have only increased over the years.
“Many people are interested in music nowadays, and many people who begin classical vocal training need the harmonium as the accompaniment instrument,” says Roop Narayan.
The Thaka brothers sell harmoniums which cost anywhere between four and twenty thousand, depending on the quality of material and craftsmanship. Lower-end harmoniums make the most sales, which reveal it is still a very popular startup instrument.
While Roop Narayan and his brothers are busy tuning harmoniums, Roop Narayan’s two teenage sons aren’t seen in the shop premises.
“They are probably surfing the internet in some cyber café,” Roop Narayan assumes.
“I feel it is a sin to interfere in somebody’s freedom. I will support my kids to achieve what they want, that’s all I can do,” he adds.
Bijay Rai
Roop Narayan’s slow style of talking, Nepali with a heavy Maithali accent, and always with a smile on his face feels coy in the beginning, but as talk proceeds, he reveals a philosophical side which only adds to the observer’s admiration. It seems tuning thousands of harmoniums over the years Roop Narayan has learned how to tune himself with existence as well.
“Some live for wealth, some for fame, while some just to make life worthwhile as it comes. I guess that has been my way,” says this master of the note about his life.
A lover of philosophical and spiritual literature, Roop Narayan says literature about truth has given him immense power to go on with his life and plans to retire as soon as his children can stand on their own two feet.
As for now, this man from Khutta Pipradhi, Mahattari, is happy tuning the harmoniums to precision so musicians can play their favorite songs.
