A harmonium, an Indian classical musical instrument. Photo: 123rf.com
My father, Swaran Singh, was born on Jan 16, 1922, in Rangilpur, Amritsar, Punjab, India, and so began the life of the man whom people would remember as the man who could repair any type of musical instrument, whether it was the waja (harmonium), tabla, accordion, organ or others.
He lived his life to the fullest and touched so many people's hearts during his lifetime.
He was only nine when his father brought him to Malaysia.
At the age of 27, his mother took him to India and got him married to my mum Raminder Kaur, who was only 17 years old in 1947. They were married for 68 beautiful years.
Dad was a well-liked and respected man, and he had many friends. Although he did not see them as often as he would have liked to, they still kept in touch with one another, safe in the unspoken knowledge that they were there for each other if needed.
He was a good man, reliable, an all-rounder, someone you felt at ease with and whom you instinctively knew you could trust and rely on.
His family was his life; they meant more to him than anything else. A home-loving family man he was.
His children meant the world to him. Luxury for him was to see his family united together on occasions such as Diwali. And as his family grew, he remained the nucleus of it, a focus of love that radiated and touched those who knew him. He left behind the wonderful legacy of a close-knit, caring family.
His father, Sohan Singh, owned the shop Sohan Singh & Sons on Batu Road, KL.
When he was studying at Maxwell secondary school – where he finished his Senior Cambridge – after school he would go to his father’s shop to assist him in making and tuning harmoniums. He acquired this trade at the age of 20 and continued doing this until he was 90 years old.
His passion for the harmonium made him a specialist in the manufacturing and tuning of the instrument. He was the one and only person in Malaysia in this trade then. Till today, people still say there is no other to compete with him.
He had customers of all races. There used to be a time when every year the ghazal performers from Johor would travel to his house to get their harmoniums tuned.
As what his son Jasvinder Singh says, our dad’s hearing was perfect despite his old age. Both Jasvinder and another brother, Bhajan, worked with our father during their schooldays. They saw how he repaired and made harmoniums, refurbishing them as they would get damaged due to poor packaging. They saw the hard times that Father went through. Bhajan and I learned to repair, overhaul and tune harmoniums – even making the bellows – from him.
Dad liked listening to music. He also played the violin in his early years.
He had a wide range of musical tastes. He loved orchestral music by Mantovani and his favourite Western singer was Andy Williams. Some of his favourite Indian classical music and ghazals were by Ravi Shanker and Ghulam Ali Khan; as for Hindi singers, they were Mukesh, Mohd Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar, and Asha Bhosle.
When it came to listening to music, it had to be just right. He would adjust the speakers and the controls until he got it just right for him to listen and enjoy. He never approved of loud music. He used to say, “Let your ears go to the music and not music come to your ears.”
He was a bit of a perfectionist, and liked things to be just so, but he wasn't one to make a fuss.
He was always there for everyone.
He liked the simple pleasures in life, like sitting in his living room with a cup of tea and watching Hindi movies. He recorded and kept a library of about 200 movies on VHS tapes.
My father was very conservative and strict. Punctuality was very important to him. In the early days, he always wanted his children to come home by 7pm.He was a very healthy person due to his discipline.
When he used to work at Sohan Singh & Sons, his wife used to prepare his lunch and pack it for him. He only ate outside food once a week as he felt it was unhygienic.
He used to go for evening walks with my mum every day. He would walk for 3km in the mornings and would grumble if it rained and he had to miss his walk.
His great grandson Manvir Singh Panesar was born on Jan 14, 2015, just two days short of his 93rd birthday.
My dad was bedridden for 10 months before he passed away on Feb 17, 2016, at the geriatric ward of University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur.
He was the best dad we could ever have asked for – he loved his family and gave us the best.
We will always cherish and love him.
As the saying goes:
Those we love don’t go away,
They walk beside us every day,
Unseen, unheard,
But always near.
Still loved, still missed,
And very dear.
