Navy locates 48-year-old record of 1971 India-Pakistan war victory song

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22

Over two years after the 1971 India-Pakistan war, an album on martial music was released on the Republic Day in 1974 to mark the achievement of the Indian Navy.

The album named “A Salute to Our Navy” featured 14 songs, including “Vijay”, commemorating the decisive victory.

At that time, black vinyl “LP” records existed that went out of fashion as the cassette replaced them in early 1980s. The CD soon replaced cassette as a medium of storing and playing music.

Five decades since the LP was released, information on its existence was almost lost, but was discovered — by chance. The herculean challenge to locate this vintage LP record spanned across various cities, antique shops, collectors, online queries and even with the copyright holding company that had released it.

Finally, a copy of the record in mint condition was located in a vintage record shop situated in the recesses of Old Delhi. The next challenge was to ensure that the best quality of the authentic sound on record was retrieved and digitised.

Initial efforts with local music studios in and around Delhi yielded sub-optimal quality of sound. An old production studio in Chennai was roped in that agreed to get the record restored and digitised.

Experts suggested against using regular courier companies lest the LP got damaged in transit. A specialised company was roped in just to get the LP to Chennai.

All 14 tracks were recovered and the historical musical artifact was presented to Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar. It contained both vintage LP disk of 1974 and a pen drive with the restored and digitised audio and video.

The retrieved LP record holds invaluable historical significance for the Navy. The song “INS Nilgiri” was composed for India’s first indigenously built major warship and the song “INS Delhi” for the very first flagship.

Album features 14 tracks

• The album named ‘A Salute to Our Navy’ featured 14 songs, including “Vijay” commemorating the 1971 war victory
• A copy of the record in mint condition was located in a vintage record shop situated in recesses of old Delhi
• An old production studio in Chennai got the record restored and digitised
• The musical artifact was presented to Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar. It contained both vintage LP disk of 1974 and a pen drive with the restored and digitised audio and video

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