BhagtaStars

Dear friends in this series I will be publishing about some famous faces of Bhagta Bhai.
In First episode please find a report from The tribune regarding a Baljinder Singh Bhagta bhai .

Music buff sets the record straight
Puneet Pal Singh GillTribune News Service
Bathinda, November 16 In culture lies the real identity of Punjab, and music is an integral part of it. We are not talking about the Punjabi songs with noise that is passed on in the name of music these days but about the real flavour of old Punjabi music like Puadhi Akharas, Kavishri, Dhadi, Kisse, folk and unforgettable Tumbi.
The present Punjabi music has just beats and no rhythm. But there is a place in Punjab where a music lover can find even that piece of old music that is beyond his knowledge and imagination.
In Malwa, famous for its rich heritage and culture, a man continues his passion for collecting and preserving old Punjabi music. Baljinder Singh, who is now in his mid 40s, is a head constable in Punjab Police by profession and hails from Bhagta Bhai Ka village in Bathinda. He has a library of more than 5,000 such records, the existence of some of which can be tracked to the early 19th century. And he has been collecting them without any outside support.
Interestingly, he started collecting these records just seven years ago and he has bought 99 per cent of them from different people in this short span of time. ``People sold these records for prices ranging from Rs 300 per record to Rs 50,’’ Baljinder informed.
In his archive, all the rare forms of music and performances of great personalities in the field of music like Chandi Ram, Mehar Singh and party, Shamshad Begum, Noor Jehan, Lal Chand Yamla Jatt, Surinder Kaur, to name a few, are available in the form of LP (which has around 12 songs), EP records (two songs), super seven (six songs) and even the ones made of stone and that too in its oldest format.
Not only this, he also owns nine gramophones, which he bought from various people all across the state. ``My first gramophone I bought from a person in village Lakhmireaana in district Muktsar for Rs 2,000. Now the number has gone up to nine, five of which are of HMV company, three of Philips, one of Mega and one more,’’ he said.
Even the upkeep of these records is difficult. ``These records have to be saved from direct sunlight, dust and wear and tear. For gramophones, there is only one mechanic in Malwa,’’ he informed.