Having become artifacts of a bygone era,today gramophones and records lament their lost glory and splendor. Once the exclusive preserve of the privileged and the earnest music enthusiasts,gramophones for decades remained an inevitable item on the literati and the socialites circles.Old timers recall the nostalgia about the gold plated players with pointed pins,and the revolving records, inching toward the next track after a delightful music session.

Introduced by the British into India,they became popular soon when the HMV company decided to cash in on the massive commercial opportunities of this new medium,and began to manufacture records of Indian classical and film music giants like Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Saigal, Noor Jehan and other stars.
Thus began a new chapter in the history of Indian music that put an indelible mark on the imagination of an emerging nation that had barely survived partition, riots, humiliating wars and famines.Truly, music alone became the lone voice of a beleaguered nation that finally found its voice in this melodious medium to communicate to the world.

But the hustle and bustle brought out today's techno music has pushed the gramophone records to complete abandonment and rejection. While some reclusive old lovers of the records, once in a while dust off their once priceless possession,and occasionally listen to their favourite film songs, they are destined towards doom. The young generation, with their ears plugged with i-pods and smart phones in their hands,view the gramophones with disdain.With no more records in production,and lack of spare parts available,gramophones are destined to recede from our memory.