JUKE BOX

 JUKE BOX

Quite a few facilities have disappeared from public places; these were regularly being used by visitors both for entertainment and as a means of spending time with friends over a cup of tea or coffee. I am recalling the days of my life, when I was myself a college student -1962-65 doing my B.Sc degree in Mysore. With my father in Railway service, transfer for him between different locations on the Southern Railway was a norm. Fearing that he may receive orders of transfer anytime, he put me in the hostels, so that my studies could go on unhindered. A student in hostel has both freedom and substantial responsibility.

Chances for a student  turning less attentive to studies is an innate risk in hostel life. Somehow, I escaped from such a prospect, more because I desired higher studies after graduation. What has juke box to do with all your personal narrative? –runs in the minds of readers. Please wait. In our hostels greater vigil on student –movements were effectively bestowed and only on Sunday afternoons after lunch till 8.00pm we could devote time for personal requirements including movies. Our finances then would not permit the luxury of a movie every week. So, we had to evolve ways of spending only time and not money. We were always left with paltry amounts like 10 or 15 Rs after I week. Necessity is always the mother of inventions. Sometimes it is also the mother of discoveries. With our brain, we could never invent; but we managed to discover a peaceful way of spending time. That was the centre of attraction-The Juke Box. As far as known to me persons below 45 years of age of the present day may not be aware of the facility.

The then juke boxes were electro-mechanical systems; mechanical functions were ‘power driven’.

As student in II B.Sc , I had the first glimpse of a juke box. It was a tall equipment standing to 5’ 6”, with a closed vertical column over which a horizontal glass housing was mounted.  The glass housing had many parallel channel-like grooves; each groove was a place for a granite record with cine songs recorded one on either side or a long number running on two surfaces. In all, some 25 graphite records were housed within. In the same housing a playing disc was mounted. The ‘selector’ leaves the chosen side up for playing.  Once the graphite disc was placed, a stylus would gently touch the peripheral groove on the rotating graphite record to start ‘playing’ the song. After playing, the disc is automatically restored to its slot – in a faithful sequence.

 Just below the ‘record housing’ was a control with 25 push button switches. Each button was a trigger to play a song, provided a fee was put in the slot before triggering the player. Selection of the right song was facilitated by a clear label with song number 1- 25 in line with the push button.  Please do not get perturbed; the song fee was 25 paise per surface. At 25 paise we could listen to our choice. Since we were in a group of 6 or 7 members, by a common understanding each person pays for 1 item and on a day 7 songs were delightfully enjoyed for a personal contribution of 25 paise. To legitimize our presence there, we had to buy our coffee also priced at 25 Ps a cup. Mind you 25 Ps was a taller order, as the general market price then for coffee was just 20 Ps anywhere else.

Yes, I am narrating the scenario at India Coffee house, Mysore during 1962-65. Some other restaurants like Hotel Gaylord, Hotel Dasaprakash and Royal Café had their Juke boxes as well. With our impoverished purse, seldom we dared visiting those places; why face the ignominy when at 25 paise you are a royal gust in coffee house? If you can spend Re 1 /- on a Sunday afternoon, be sure of 2 cups of coffee in about 60 to 80 minutes and a series of 14 songs. There was no easier way of competitive entertainment.  Ours was a mixed group of Tamils, Kannadigas, Malayaalis. There was patronage for songs in Tamil, Hindi and Kannada. There was also acceptance for some songs by all. To start with, songs from  Jis Desh me ganga behthi hai , Pava mannippu, were filling the box ; later Nenjil or aalayam, Mere Mehaboob  and Taj mahal were ruling. By 1964, Sangam, Kadhalikka neramillai were in place for several months. When listening is regular such numbers would not be removed unless some other super duper comes in place. That way Dosti, Andavan kattalai, Padagotti and Pudhiya paravai were juke box attractions. Life was quite enjoyable by simplicity, inability to spend but enjoyment at low cost was a boon from the Juke box which has now slipped into the oblivion. No hope of 25 paise entertainment any more. The India coffee house hall had amplifiers at all key zones to help customers receive the audio from places convenient to them; so, visitors were comfortable sitting anywhere sipping the coffee rich in aroma typical of the then India coffee house coffee served hot with optimum sugar leaving a lingering feel for an hour at least. We are now more impoverished for low cost delight by coffee and mesmerizing cine songs. We now carry money but not the pleasant feel of those times.

Prof. K.Raman