From sasando to waterphone, he handcrafted musical instruments during lockdown

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 4

If you go to his home and workshop one is bound to be mesmerised. For you would have an opportunity to chance upon an exotic range of instruments, including berimbau (Brazil), crystal quartz galassophone (US), stringoyidaki (derivative of an electric string didgeridoo), sasando (Indonesian), samsaw, samswing chimes among others.

Samir Malhotra, a Jalandhar-based doctor, is a music lover. But stands apart from rest – he crafts his own instruments, mainly to cushion the stress amid the pandemic. The 48-year-old owns 172 musical instruments and has handcrafted an array. He has been building his own collection for over 15 years. It includes guitars (acoustic and electric), darbooka, djembe, tanpura, pan flutes, sarod, nagadas and drums among many more lesser-known instruments.

After his hectic tiring shift at the workplace, which happens to be a hospital, the peace of mind descends every time he comes home to the musical paradise. “In my 24 years of medical practice we work across gruelling schedules which leave us zapped. Music runs in our family. I have been playing guitar, sourcing drums and other percussion instruments for many years. Necessity gave way to invention and I recently made instruments of my own,” he says.

Connoisseur of soulful tunes

His assorted collection includes meditative-like quality producing sounds salvaged from across the world. A connoisseur of soulful tunes, he has a knack for collecting the rawest–particularly ancient instruments created by indigenous tribes, which have therapeutic effect, are his forte. Interestingly, all his time and money is invested only for the passion and not for commerce.

His first handcrafted instrument was a didgeridoo (an electrical stringed didgeridoo), a derivative of the Australian didgeridoo, an indigenous instrument originally developed by the Australian aboriginals around 1,500 years ago.

Other handcrafted instruments include a Shanti M Pan 74 (crafted on the 74th year of Indian Independence) a derivative of an Israel-based instrument bajinn — a hollow wooden basket with horizontal metal bars which give out sonorous notes culminating in a calming effect. He has also created his own version of sasando — a tube zither (harp like instrument) native of Rote Island of Indonesia.

The doctor has two holy grails at his place – a workshop and a recording studio — where he collects his treasured items. “I learnt the craft by the watching tutorials and videos on the internet. These instruments are made from the help at workshops of my friends’ steel and wood factories as well. While the concept is mine, I instruct the karigars on how to build them,” he shares.

However, excessive charges on shipping and transportation made it difficult to order some exotic instruments from abroad. The bevy would otherwise have swelled but…“Amid the pandemic, the charges of sanitisation and protocols also piled on, I could not afford that. The PM says we should be ‘atmanirbhar’. And so I did.”

What is he currently working on?

Currently working on creating a derivative of the modern waterphone (in pic), originally created by the American Richard Waters, he explains his interest: “The trigger for the love of instruments was in fact a saxophone gifted by my wife. I have been glued to the meditative sounds of these instruments. After my five to six hours of sleep, I head to my workshop and begin crafting instruments.”