Amit Vaidya and His Accordion

Please listen to this song from film ‘Howrah Bridge’. In the light of other very popular songs of the film ( ‘Aaiye Meheraban’ and ‘Mera Naam chin Chin Chun’), this song went into oblivion. Not many are even aware of it! However, it is equally well composed and orchestrated as the other two mentioned above. This particular one has excellent pieces of Accordion played by Goody Servai, the legendary Accordion player. 

As it can easily be noticed, the Accordion pieces during the prelude as well as interlude are are extremely difficult to play. An accomplished Accordionist only could play these flawlessly.  Now please listen to the same song being played by a Pune based Accordionist.

A careful listening to this rendition shows the mastery of the artist over the instrument. While his right hand moves swiftly over the reeds of Accordion, his left one handles the bellow and especially the cord buttons there upon. Without going into the intricacies of this wonderful musical instrument, I may please be allowed to mention that the bellow and the cord buttons are the features of the Accordion which make it so special. Only an expert player with dedicated, vigorous practice of years and of course, amazing natural talent can ‘play’ Accordion in real sense. And do I have to add here, this artist has done it very efficiently? Any music lover would fall high over hills upon this performance - I did.

I happened to listen to this clip for the first time in November of 2011. There is no mention of the name of the artist in this upload. I desperately wanted to find out who he was and after an extensive search, I could trace Amit Vaidya from Pune as being the one. Next, I managed to procure his contact details and once I had the phone number, I called him that very night. His response was very warm. We clicked instantaneously and our friendship has only grown stronger ever since. He is such a dear that I will refer to him in the ongoing account as Amit only. No ‘Shri’, ‘Mr.’ Or ‘Ji’ business. He’d appreciate this, I am sure.

In the times to come, I became addicted to Amit’s rendition. I started searching for more and more of his uploads. There were only a few, however. I started sharing those with my friend Chandrashekhar Pandya who too is extremely fond of Accordion. So impressed were we with his videos that we thought of inviting Amit to Amdavad for a live performance.

When I called him to ask if he would accept our invitation and if yes, what would be his terms, his response was very positive. “I am doing stage programmes for the promotion of this wonderful instrument which is slowly moving towards extinction. If you want me to come and perform in Amdavad, all I expect is second A/C class rail travel, stay and of course, an appreciative audience. I don’t charge for performance since it is my hobby”, he said.

It was on 31^st of March 2012 that Amit Vaidya performed in an auditorium of Gandhinagar. The audience was spell bound and he received standing ovation from time to time. This clip of that programme shows him playing ‘Aaiye Meheraban’ from film ‘Howarah Bridge'. This particular song demonstrates how well he has operated the bellow and the cord buttons the way only a few can.

We have remained in touch ever since. Though not very frequently, we have managed to meet in person at least once a year and electronic communication technology keeps us attached virtually. 

It was during my recent visit to Pune, at the suggestion of a dear friend Shri Biren Kothari, that I had made up my mind to do a feature on Amit. When I called him, he more than agreed. He invited me to his house on 9^th of this month. I took along with me apart from a Pen and a Note book, a camera to record a couple of his live performances. We talked about his life, his love for Accordion and also about his future plans. Following is the extract of that good time I spent with him over delicious Halwa which I relished as much as I did the communication and the music.

                                                         

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Born on 2^nd February 0f the year 1972 to very literate and cultured parents, Amit showed inclination for fine arts from early years of his life. A famous theatre personality of Marathi, Shri Vasant Kanitkar was his maternal grand uncle and Amit grew in the ambience of drama and music all around him.

Shri Vasant Kanitkar

 In his childhood he had nurtured a dream to dedicate himself to the acting and become a torch bearer to Vasant Kanitkar. He started participating in dramas while in primary school and made a good name of himself. He won many prizes for acting at different levels. At the same time, he started playing Mouth Organ and in very little time developed fascination over it. There came a stage where he found himself at the cross roads and he knew he HAD to choose between Theatre and Music. It was now that he decided to go ahead with music. This happened when he was about 12. 

Young Amit Vaidya

 In the early years, he developed good command over Mouth Organ and next he set his eyes upon Key board instruments, starting naturally with a Harmonium. In the time to come, he took fancy upon Accordion. There were two stalwart Accordion players in Pune in 1991-92, Shri Anil Gode and Shri Suhaaschandra Kulkarni. Amit took basic lessons from these two, intermittently however. In 1994, he acquired his own Accordion, a second hand one at the cost of Rs. 18,000/-.  He always felt within himself, he wanted to do much more.

Amit considered learning the use of notations for playing Accordion. For this, it was imperative to learn western music. He thought of learning Piano. Since there was nobody in Pune to teach him Piano the way he wanted to, he thought of finding somebody in Mumbai. In the year 1999, He went to ‘Furtados’, the famous store for musical instruments located in Dhobi Talao area of Mumbai. A shop assistant told him that there was someone in the name of Shri Cyrus Panthky residing in Dadar, who gave Piano lessons. He hired a taxi and rushed to the address as given by the shop assistant. Cyrusji was about to leave when Amit reached his house and introduced self. Surprised at this unwarranted visitor, Cyrus Panthky however gave Amit a considerate ear and agreed to teach him on weekends.

By this time Amit had graduated with a degree in Plastic engineering and had acquired a decent job in Pune. On Saturdays, he’d catch an early train to Mumbai, take lessons from Cyrus Panthky only to return home a tired man after hours of commuting , practice and toiling hard in the process. But all that toiling was holding very precious value to the young man. While in Pune, most of his free time would be spent practicing over his Accordion, what he learnt in Mumbai over Piano. 

With Grand Piano

In 2004, he had to move to Europe as his job demanded so. The four years that he spent in Europe were very fruitful as he went on to acquire as much knowledge as he could regarding the intrinsic details of the making of Accordion and also learnt more of western style of Accordion playing. While there, he kept in touch with Cyrus Panthky and kept him updated about his progress. The Piano however had to make room for Accordion.

Amit returned in 2008 and it was not very long before Cyrus Panthky took ill. His condition worsened and he succumbed to the disease in 2009. “This was an emotionally disturbing time for me” says Amit. He decided to dedicate himself to the promotion of Accordion. As a part of his effort, he delivers an infotainment programme ‘The world of Accordion’ every year on first Sunday of the month of May, which is celebrated as ‘World Accordion Day’. As already mentioned, he does not charge or even invite sponsorship. He spends from his pocket.

Open Invitation , Free for all

Every year, he designs his programme based upon different themes. He invites renowned Accordion players of Hindi film music industry and even internationally acclaimed European Artists for these programmes. As can be seen in the photograph, Shri Kersi Lord, the legendary musician of hindi film industry was invited to one such event. Needless to add here, such programmes are eagerly awaited by music lovers of Pune.

With Kersi Lord

Amit is acclaimed in the international circuit for almost a decade now. A very befitting compliment has come from Scandalli, an Italian company known world over for making very high quality Accordions. In their website, the company mentions names of reputed artists on the international circuit. They have made a mention to Amit Vaidya. A matter of pride for not only him, for everybody who knows him.

Scandalli Website

At 44, he is a successful man by all possible standards. What next? I asked. I also wondered if he ever thought of making a career in the music industry. He is very clear about what he wants to do. ‘Six more years of professional life. At 50, I would quit all this to pursue my love for Accordion where I will teach youngsters and will do everything that I can for the promotion of Accordion. Answering your second question, I never wanted to make Accordion my source of income. I have seen the music industry from very close quarters and I never wanted to indulge into the games an artist has to play to sustain him in the race.” He also wants to do a little more with theatre. He does indulge into it whenever he can manage to snatch a little time from his busy schedule of profession, music and family responsibilities. In 2014, he did a one man Vachikam show of a play by Shri P.L. Deshpande.

'Vachikam' of a P.L. Deshpande Play

The fascination for theatre is alive within himself. “When I am playing a song, both the tune as well as lyrics of that song play within my mind. I do not merely play the song, I’d rather say I enact the song”, said he. Now was the time for the live recording. The following clip has him playing ‘Shola jo Bhadake’ from film ‘Albela’. Please mark how efficiently he is managing the Key board, the Bellow and the Cord buttons during the rendition.

Next we recorded ‘Yad n Jaye Bite Dino ki’ from film ‘Dil Ek Mandir. “Why this song?” one would wonder. He explains in the beginning, in anticipation. I would strongly suggest everyone to please listen to what he says. Following that, allow the time bar to run. Mark between 57 seconds to 1 min and 16 seconds, how the bellow control helps create the desired effect. Throughout the rendition, the rhythm is provided by manoeuvring of the bellow buttons. As if all this is not enough, please mark the fingering between 4 min and 55 seconds to 5 min 7 seconds. This is what an accomplished artist is capable of.

It was ‘Thanks for everything’ time. We have been meeting  and will continue to meet but personally, this was a precious and quality time spent with him which I will always remember very fondly.

Here are a few more performances by him.

  Many more of his performances are available on You tube. One waits for the year 2022, when he will turn 50 and as per his wish will turn into a full time Accordionist. Thanks a lot, Amit Vaidya and my Best Wishes for an all yielding future.

(Photos courtsey Amit Vaidya, 

Videos courtsey You tube)