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Photos: Last of Delhi’s gramophone mechanics

Rais Ahmed, 60, mends wind-up gramophones, helping many discover the joy of full-fidelity music experience in the digital age. The dimly-lit small room, which exudes an old-world charm, is choc-a-bloc with wind-up gramophones of brands such as HMV, Columbia, horens, some of which more than 100 years old.

Updated on: Dec 09, 2019 1:15 PM IST

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Rais Ahmad seen working at his workshop at Chawari bazar in New Delhi. Rais Ahmad’s first-floor workshop in the walled city is a charming musical mess. The dimly-lit small room, which exudes an old-world charm, is choc-a-bloc with wind-up gramophones of brands such as HMV, Columbia, Thorens, some of which are more than 100 years old. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Dec 09, 2019 1:15 PM

Rais Ahmad seen working at his workshop at Chawari bazar in New Delhi. Rais Ahmad’s first-floor workshop in the walled city is a charming musical mess. The dimly-lit small room, which exudes an old-world charm, is choc-a-bloc with wind-up gramophones of brands such as HMV, Columbia, Thorens, some of which are more than 100 years old. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Inside view of the Rais Ahmad’s workshop. It is a Friday afternoon and Rais is trying to fix the broken spring of a suitcase gramophone, a 1930s HMV machine. It was delivered to him for repair a few days ago by a young man from Lucknow. “People come from all over the country to get their mechanical gramophones repaired. Some are rediscovering the joys of listening to a gramophone, and others, mostly youngsters, wish to keep alive memories of their forefathers,” says Rais. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Dec 09, 2019 1:15 PM

Inside view of the Rais Ahmad’s workshop. It is a Friday afternoon and Rais is trying to fix the broken spring of a suitcase gramophone, a 1930s HMV machine. It was delivered to him for repair a few days ago by a young man from Lucknow. “People come from all over the country to get their mechanical gramophones repaired. Some are rediscovering the joys of listening to a gramophone, and others, mostly youngsters, wish to keep alive memories of their forefathers,” says Rais. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Rais’ workshop has shelves crammed with old gramophones and spare parts sourced from all across India. “So, the motor will clunk, rattle, stick, or stall, when you wind them, and it is not easy to repair. I often have to disassemble, clean, regress, and reassemble the springs enclosed in a small steel drum, which is quite a complex business. In many cases they need to be replaced and finding a replacement is not easy,” said Rais. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Dec 09, 2019 1:15 PM

Rais’ workshop has shelves crammed with old gramophones and spare parts sourced from all across India. “So, the motor will clunk, rattle, stick, or stall, when you wind them, and it is not easy to repair. I often have to disassemble, clean, regress, and reassemble the springs enclosed in a small steel drum, which is quite a complex business. In many cases they need to be replaced and finding a replacement is not easy,” said Rais. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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His family has been repairing gramophones for over seven decades. Rais learnt the job from his maternal uncle who used to work for HMV. A wind-up gramophone, Rais says, may be a machine with a simple mechanism made up of a crank handle, brackets, a needle, turntable, sound box, a horn, and powered by a spring motor, but one needs a delicate hand and an ear for sound to be a gramophone mechanic. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Dec 09, 2019 1:15 PM

His family has been repairing gramophones for over seven decades. Rais learnt the job from his maternal uncle who used to work for HMV. A wind-up gramophone, Rais says, may be a machine with a simple mechanism made up of a crank handle, brackets, a needle, turntable, sound box, a horn, and powered by a spring motor, but one needs a delicate hand and an ear for sound to be a gramophone mechanic. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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Rais says that he gets a lot of gramophones that buzz or squawk even when playing a good record. “In such cases, I often have to refurbish the sound box. At times, I have to fabricate parts too, but that is not acceptable to some of my customers , especially collectors who do not want to compromise with the originality of their machine,” says Rais, who gets about 5-6 customers every month. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Dec 09, 2019 1:15 PM

Rais says that he gets a lot of gramophones that buzz or squawk even when playing a good record. “In such cases, I often have to refurbish the sound box. At times, I have to fabricate parts too, but that is not acceptable to some of my customers , especially collectors who do not want to compromise with the originality of their machine,” says Rais, who gets about 5-6 customers every month. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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By the early 1980s when audio cassette players became popular, gramophones fell out of favour, said Rais. “People started junking them during this period. But by the mid-1990s, many people began to collect the older models from the early 20th century.” A lot of audiophiles visit his workshop for repair. “Vinyl, they believe, provides them a full-fidelity listening experience, with incomparable richness of sound. But I think people nowadays buy gramophones as mere decorative items.” (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

Updated on Dec 09, 2019 1:15 PM

By the early 1980s when audio cassette players became popular, gramophones fell out of favour, said Rais. “People started junking them during this period. But by the mid-1990s, many people began to collect the older models from the early 20th century.” A lot of audiophiles visit his workshop for repair. “Vinyl, they believe, provides them a full-fidelity listening experience, with incomparable richness of sound. But I think people nowadays buy gramophones as mere decorative items.” (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

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