About Me
GIRIDHAR NEMAKAL
Background:
I was born Giridhar Nemakal (known to family and close friends as Giri) on 13th September, 1937. I am a retired Scientist from CSIR - CFTRI, Mysore (1964 - 1998). After spending 4 years of my service in Kodur, Cuddapah district of AP, my office was shifted to Hyderabad in 1968 and since then I am settled in Hyderabad. Being the fifth child in Mr Neelakanta Rao's family, my childhood was entirely spent in Bellary District and my education was in different places in Bellary District. After finishing SSLC in Hospet, I joined Osmania College in Kurnool in 1956. I had a break of one year in studies and stayed with my father at Siruguppa. In 1957 I joined Agricultural college at Dharwar and graduated in 1960. For one year I worked as Agricultural Extension Officer at Wanaparthy in Mahboobnagar District of AP. In 1961 I joined college for my post graduation and took Masters degree in Horticulture. Then I joined as Research Assistant in Regional Fruit Research Station, Chethalli, Coorg District, Karnataka. In 1964 I joined CSIR-CFTRI, MYSORE.
Interest in Music:
Since my childhood I had an interest in learning instrumental music. I was inspired by my maternal uncle was only a few years older than me and used to learn violin. I too wanted to learn to play violin but somehow I never managed to. But my love for music and the desire to learn to play an instrument led me to learn the Harmonica through self-study, without any classical background, by sheer trial and error. The first song I learned was the "Jana gana mana." And my learning continued. Similarly, when I was in Siruguppa, I had an access to a Harmonium, from our neighbor, who was a Circle Inspector of Police. Whenever I asked to borrow, he obliged. Thus I taught myself to play the Harmonium as well. Some of the earliest songs I learned were from the movie Nagin and a few other Telugu film songs. I continued to learn both the harmonium and the harmonica. At college in Kurnool, during a college day function, a senior BA student played the harmonica on the stage. I was impressed by the recital and my desire intensified to play like him on stage. Finally this desire was fulfilled when I got an opportunity in playing the harmonica at a social gathering at the Agricultural College. It felt great when I got a good applause from audience and recognized for my talent.
Interest in Film Music:
I grew up in a time when most young people's sole entertainment was film music. In Bellary, my aunt (mother's elder sister) had a gramophone and we listened to songs of K.L. Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, K.C.Dey, Khurshid, Kanan Bala etc. I watched many movies with my mother (like Jawab, Bhakth Surdas , Tansen, Devdas, Khazanchi, Basant etc). My maternal uncle at Hospet had a Philip's radio (with magic eye) and we used to listen to Hindi film songs. Later the radio became common in all middle-class households. I grew up thus surrounded with music from the radios and film theatres. Hindi and Telugu film music was everywhere. My brother-in-law , Mr Seshachalam too had a gramophone and he was a fan of Hindi music and had a good collection of vinyl records. The trend in Indian cinema was that the success of a film depended on music content rather than other aspects. This led to excellent music composers and playback singers participating in the film industry and the industry flourished.
Western Music:
India was under British rule for nearly 200 years and many Britishers have come and settled here. They brought with them the western culture. Some radio stations were specifically broadcasting English programmes with western music for them. Radio Ceylon was one such station. Besides Indian cinema, Talkies screened English movies in the afternoons and were known as matinee shows. Unlike Hindi or Telugu movies, the English movies had no songs in them and the story and action were vital for success. The movies with music were known as musicals. The western music was more dependent on individual singers, groups or bands, instrumental music etc and they were released as records or albums separately.
Influence of Friends and Relatives:
Since my college days, I was inspired by my brother Viswanath, who was fond of music but had an ear for English music through Radio Ceylon. When I lived with him in Humpi camp, I too listened to the English music and started to develop an interest. In the college at Dharwar, my roommate and other friends who were from Kerala, were also fond of English music and my interest continued.
Many years later, after retirement, Venu and I used to talk regularly on the phone, and he would talk a lot about the music he listened to. Venu would play English music through his DVD player and softly while seeing his patients. The pharmaceutical sales reps who visited him regularly noticed his interest in English music and used to gift him with newly released DVDs of popular songs. Whenever he got such gifts he used to make a copy of them and send me by courier. I have a good collection of them.
And during my frequent visits to the USA to see Tikki and Suneeta (nearly ten visits and each visit lasting for a period of 6 months) has helped me to develop a liking towards more modern American music. While in Tampa I was a regular listener of WSJT 94.1 FM Smooth Jazz radio Station.