The workshop smells of sawdust. About 30 craftsmen are squatting on the ground, hammering, sawing or planing pieces of plywood. The cacophony is jarring. Suddenly, the strains of a violin rise above the din, as if to soothe the nerves.
Sitting behind a desk in a corner of the workshop, Zamiruddin is giving final touches to a new violin. He tunes the instrument and plays it again. He is satisfied; a new violin is ready.
“I am the only person in India who makes violins on a large scale,” claims the sexagenarian Zamiruddin. Every month, Zamiruddin’s craftsmen produce around 400 violins. And these violins are an amateur’s or a beginner’s best bet, as they cost far less than the ones used by professional violinists.
The skill of violin-making was passed on to Zamiruddin by his father, Haseenuddin. Had it not been for a tragic incidents of sorts 74 years ago, Zamiruddin would perhaps be making wooden furniture instead.
It was 1942, when Rampur — a city in Uttar Pradesh, some 175 kilometres east of Delhi — was a princely estate and Haseenuddin was a renowned cabinetmaker there. Haseenuddin’s younger brother Ameeruddin had returned home from a visit to Bombay, and brought along a violin.
The violin became Ameeruddin’s sole companion. He would spend hours playing the instrument. About five years later, Ameeruddin accidentally dropped the violin and it broke. He went into depression and nothing would cheer him up. Unhappy to see his brother in this condition, Haseenuddin decided to study the splintered violin in detail.
“My father was a master,” says Zamiruddin.
Using his skills as a cabinetmaker, Haseenuddin designed a new violin for his brother, bringing back his younger brother’s smile. And thus, Haseenuddin discovered his skill for crafting violins. “Why not make violins along with beds, tables, chairs and wardrobes?” thought Haseenuddin. There was no looking back since.
Initially Haseenuddin made only a few violins. His success egged him on to increase production. Haseenuddin realised that violins were in great demand in those states where music was part of the school curriculum.
“My father started making and selling violins in states such as Tamil Nadu, Goa and Kerala. Mastering a musical instrument, especially a Western musical instrument, was a part of the school curriculum in those states,” says Zamiruddin.
There came a time when the demand for violins was so high that Haseenuddin could not make any furniture. “My father gave up making furniture and focused only on making violins. He became the biggest violin maker of India,” says Zamiruddin.
For seven decades, Zamiruddin’s ancestral house in the congested Purana Ganj neighbourhood of Rampur doubled as a workshop for making violins.
Haseenuddin died in 1996 at the age of 78 and Zamiruddin being his eldest son, inherited the family business. Following his father’s death, Zamiruddin renovated the workshop and named it New Slovakia Musicals.
Czechoslovakia disintegrated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. The latter’s name caught Zamiruddin’s fancy. “Czechoslovakia was one of the countries that produced the best violins in the world. Hence I named my workshop after Slovakia,” he says.
For years Zamiruddin’s house or New Slovakia Musical in Purana Ganj was famous as “violin ‘banane wale ka ghar’” (the house of the violin-maker). A year ago he shifted his workshop to a new place that overlooks Nainital Road, Highway Number 87 — the highway that connects New Delhi to the popular hill station of Nainital.
Zamiruddin has renamed the workshop as Z Slovakia Musical, to add a bit of his personality to the business.
Zamiruddin says that his violins are meant for those who want to learn how to play the instrument.
Violins are also made in Kolkata, he says, but only in limited numbers. “My violins are cheap. They cost between Rs1,200 [Dh66] and Rs2,500,” he says. “School students who have music in their curriculum are my main buyers.”
Professional violin players use instruments made in Germany. “Germany makes excellent violins. But they are costly with prices starting at Rs100,000 or so per piece.”
Music is an inseparable part of Hindi movies. Bollywood music is a blend of Indian classical, folk and Western music. Almost all Western musical instruments, including violins, are used. “But my violins are not used in Hindi film songs. Hindi film musicians use violins made in Europe,” he says.
Zamiruddin believes that making a violin is an art and has to be mastered gradually. He learnt the craft from his father, and mastered it over time. “When I hire a new craftsman, I have to teach him the art. It takes time. A guru gradually gives all his knowledge to his disciple. In that same way, I teach the skills to my craftsman one step at a time,” he says.
Mobin, 32, is one of the craftsmen. He has been working for Zamiruddin for the past 17 years. As a novice, Mobin sawed or planed wood. “Now I give only finishing touches to violins,” he says.
As the years pass, Zamiruddin is finding it difficult to run the business. “Finding craftsmen is becoming tough as nowadays they can get jobs that pay more. When I hire a new person, I have to teach him the nuances of making violins. Once he is trained, he leaves me for a better paying job.”
Zamiruddin is facing stiff competition — from across the Himalayas. Trade relations between India and China have improved in the last decade. China, among other things, has started exporting violins to India. “Chinese violins are made using machines, unlike mine which are crafted by hand. Chinese violins are cheaper, which is affecting my business. But I will continue making violins,” says Zamiruddin, his voice tinged with determination.
Rohit Ghosh is a writer based in Kanpur, India.
