November 11, 1902. The day the first song rendered by artiste Gauhar Jaan was recorded in India by the Gramophone Typewriter Ltd. A century later, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Doordarshan and All India Radio will be paying a tribute to her and other singers by declaring the year as the centenary year of recorded music in India.In the process, they will kickstart a project to put Indian music on record, appealing to the people to help restore rare recordings of musicians living or long gone. Ministry officials, along with the Prasar Bharati, will be getting in touch with recording companies like HMV, and musicians to set the history of recorded music right.A project was originally conceived for the DD Bharti channel. In between, invaluable recordings of singers and filmmakers have been lost and erased. ‘‘Till two years ago, the archives did not have an airconditioner and seepage rendered the tapes uselss,’’ said an official.Now DD and AIR will be seeking public help in building its archives again. ‘‘Prominent film and music personalities will be involved to restore our music and performing arts,’’ said Director General S.Y. Kureishi who will be also the director of the project. The project will involve the setting of an advisory panel which will be headed by I&B Minister Sushma Swaraj.In his search for roots, Qureishi is getting in touch with people directly. ‘‘If they have something useful to contribute they can contact us through our website,’’ he said.
