'An instrument is never junked, it is repaired and retuned and much like a human being, over years of usage dies as its metal sheet is worn thin with wear...'

Each instrument is personally handpicked by me over days of sourcing in cities and meeting the old hands that have over generations been involved in making these pieces by hand one at a time. There is no cookie cutter mechanics involved just iron cast moulds over which thin sheets of brass are draped and hammered to form the perfect sonorous curve. Every piece always carries unique markers by virtue of its dents and marks of repair, its worn out plating making it a blend of silvery dull gold, often inscribed with the name of its owner or band it belonged to. 

These brass wind instruments are not indigenous to India but found their way into the subcontinent with the coming of the Europeans and as the British empire continued to establish itself in India, so did the first company to make them locally.

Nadir Ali set up in 1885 is considered to be the first and oldest company that began making these instruments and till date pieces from this factory, locally referred to as 'Kothi ka baaja' is considered to be the most valuable for its quality. 

Each instrument is unique since despite their uniformity in looks, if you look close enough, one can tell the traces of irregularities that are inherent to hand forged and formed products.