Of the 20 ‘veena’ makers in town, only nine are active

One among the three first generation ‘veena’ makers in Nuzvid, Sheik Meera Saheb, 63, has quit the art form, owing to his poor health condition. His inability to continue the age-old tradition has a very direct impact on the small scale industry, leading to dwindling number of artisans.

Of the 20 ‘veena’ makers in Nuzvid, barely nine of them are left now despite having a handsome number of orders flowing in from different parts of the country.

“My son Basha, one of the finest artisans, died a year ago due to heart attack. My two grandsons do not make the instrument. Now it is my turn to quit the work,” Mr. Meera Saheb told The Hindu .

In his illustrious journey spanning a half-a-decade of making of the traditional Indian classical instrument (made from wood of jackfruit tree), Mr. Meera Saheb has an excellent list of ‘veena’ players who were his customers. “Among Indian classical vocalists, I made the instrument for the Caranatic vocalist Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna’s team, V.L. Narayana of Tamil Nadu and Nookala Chinasatyanarayana,” added Mr. Meera Saheb.

Lying on the bed for most of the time amid unsold Veenas, he sometimes helps his son Sheik Mabu Saheb by giving a hand in fine-turning the product before it is sold to the customer.

“The happiness in my life springs from spending time with the other ‘veena’ makers in Nuzvid and sharing experiences of glorious past of our job,” he added. Among the three first generation artisans, Sheik Gani now does the pot that is attached to the lion-shaped head and another one had died.

Mr. Meera Saheb had learnt the art from Machilipatnam-born Guru Nookalla Venkataratnam when he was 15.

Of the 20 ‘Veena’ makers in Nuzvid in early 2011, barely nine are left now

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh  / by T. Appala Naidu / Nuzvid – April 21st,  2014