Record breaking

A great music enthusiast,Qureshi prefers not to be called a lover of any particular genre of music. His love for the LPs dates back to the time when Qureshi was seven-year-old. “I had gone to attend a Diwali Mela and I won a record player in a game in which I participated,” recalls this 38-year-old,who is working as head trainer at Tata AIG General Insurance. With the record player,he had won two LPs as well and that’s how his attraction towards the old-time music pieces began. He adds,”Whenever my father used to switch on the turntable,I used to get fascinated with the rotating black disc.”

However,the very first LP that he bought was when he was studying in Std XI. “I happened to come across the LP of Revolver by Beatles. While the price of the disc was Rs 40,I had only Rs 20 in my wallet. I went back home,got another twenty rupees to pick up the LP,” smiles he. The rest as they say,is history as then onwards,every time Qureshi came in contact with any person or any shop in possession of a LP,he took all the efforts to buy the record. Once,he even paid 97 pounds to purchase a particular record. Qureshi has all the formats of records such as- 16,33,45 and 78 RPM.

Qureshi is not amongst those who prefer listening and collecting just old music. Apart from the LPs and old-time music players,he also has a huge collection of new music CDs— but strictly the original ones. He says,”Before CDs came into existence,there were these German-make metal-discs released,I have around six of them. I like to preserve the music in its original form. I am anti-MP3. I want my two daughters to experience what it it is like to listen to- Aayega Aanewala in the way it was recorded. You might find old songs in CDs too but the freshness may not be the same.”

Having studied engineering and also having a good knowledge about the old-time record players,Qureshi is a pro in repairing them. Friends and others who face problems with their gramophones or record players often visit him and he is too happy to give service free of cost.

The vast collection has been bought from cities like Kolkata,Mumbai,Bangalore,Chennai,Delhi and Hyderabad. Some are even purchased from places outside India like Germany,US and UK. A music-lover to the core,there’s barely an hour when some sort of music is not playing in his house. “I truly believe that music has no language. It soothes your soul and uplifts your spirit. Everyone in the family loves listening to music. Infact,even my four-year-old daughter knows how to operate a turntable,” concludes Qureshi.

The collection includes rare records like
—The Beatles Butcher cover
—Beatles on VJ and Swan records
—M S Subbulakshmi in 10 languages
—Pandit Nehru’s Tryst With Destiny speech
—Mahatama Gandhi’s speeches
—JF Kennedy’s ‘Ask not what your country can do for you’ speech
—Malika Pukhraj’s rare 78 RPM records