Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Saturday, February 22, 2020
GRAMOPHONE MUSEUM OF MUHAMMED SHAFI
About 8 years back, on the 28th January 2012 to be
exact, I had posted about
Sri Muhammed Shafi, The Gramophone Man, a collector, seller, and service technician of old Gramophones, Valve Radios, Gramophone records and other musical antiques. For your ready reference this is the link to that post.
Sri Muhammed Shafi, The Gramophone Man, a collector, seller, and service technician of old Gramophones, Valve Radios, Gramophone records and other musical antiques. For your ready reference this is the link to that post.
My blog page has been inactive for quite sometime since my 101st post ,i.e., on Music director Madan Mohan. What
revived my interest in blogging and brought me back to pounding the keyboard of
my laptop is a recent happy event when Sri Muhammed Shafi enhaced his stature
to that of a Preserver and a Reference Centre for antique musical devices. Sri
Muhammed Shafi has on the 26th January 2020 opened his GRAMOPHONE
MUSEUM AND RESEARCH CENTRE at Lakkidi in Wayanad district of Kerala, a
picturesque hill station and tourist centre.The museum is situated near the
well known tourist spot, THE POOKODE LAKE.
His laudable effort is to bring under one roof all his rare collections of the last 25years
and to preserve them for posterity and
to kindle the interest, especially of the young generation, about our glorious
musical past. What sets this museum apart is the fact that it is probably THE ONLY LIVING MUSEUM OF OUR TIME in the sense that all the devices on display are alive and in perfect working condition. Kudos to Sri Shafi for his tremendous efforts to maintain them as they are now. The dynamism these devices impart and the sheer pleasure of witnessing their performance are unbelievable and a lifetime experience.
He has been working on this project for the
last four years using all the resources with him by purchasing a small plot of
land and constructing a two level building to display his wonderful awe
inspiring collection of antiques. This is the second of such museums in Kerala, the first being the DISCS AND
MACHINES museum at Plasenal,Pala, in Kottayam district of Kerala. This is owned by Sri Sunny Mathew, a well
known personality in the field.
While I was aware of
Muhammed Shafi’s efforts and had seen his collections during the last 20 years, what I saw at the Museum was really mind blowing. A wonderful array of
old valve radios of all brands including the Marconi, G.E.C, Grundig, Philips,
and the favourite of our campus days , National-Echo are there in all their glory in perfect
working condition. Gramophones of all ages
and varieties, hand wound as well as power operated , are there to see
and wonder. The Micky Phone, The Symphonian, The Gypsy Phone, The Sound Box ,
the foot pedal Harmonium, Radiograms,
The Magic Lamp and the ancient Fan working on kerosene are there to see. A huge
collection of gramophone records also vets the appetite of enthusiasts. Yes,
this museum is going to be an important and must visit spot in the tourist map
of the state.
I am uploading a few
photographs taken by me during my visit to the museum. Myself and my wife had a
wonderful day at the Museum sharing
musical experiences with Sri
Shafi and a few of the like minded visiting music enthusiasts . We could also spend time at the Pookode Lake and enjoy the beauty of nature at Wynad. We
returned with everlasting memories after spending the night at the guest room
of the Museum
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| Pookode Lake |
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| Shafi with his wonderful Radiogram |