1. My city is known for two things – food and clothes.
2. The variety in both the categories is just staggering.
3. And the reasonable prices just add to the attraction for the buyers who comprise not only of local residents but also consumers from other states.
4. But there is one particular product that is like the crown jewel of my hometown and has vouchsafed a distinction to our city because of its uniqueness and popularity and that is the bamboo guitar.
5. My city has a rich tradition in the field of music and has produced many distinguished musicians who were popular not only in India but worldwide.
6. The production of musical instruments from bamboo was started by a local family of musicians nearly a century ago.
7. Initially they manufactured the traditional instruments like sitar and flute which are integral part of Indian classical music.
8. But in the year 1968 one of the young members of that family went to the USA and there he got his first taste of rock music and was completely enthralled by the mesmerizing music coming out of the guitar.
9. He came back and shared his experience with his family members and suggested that they should start making their own version of bamboo guitar.
10. Everybody liked the idea and they started to work on it.
11. Within a year they produced their first version of bamboo guitar.
12. Initially the fans of rock music rejected it because it was not similar in looks to the conventional guitar and nobody knew what kind of music it would produce.
13. But when the family showcased their new product in one of musical concerts held in our city with a memorable performance with the guitar, everybody was on their feet and the bamboo guitar became a hot commodity overnight.
14. After that performance the family and their new invention bamboo guitar became the talk of the town and was gaining fast popularity among the prominent musicians of the country.
15. Many prominent figures from the musical industry came to visit that family and requested them to do a short performance with the guitar.
16. All of them were in awe of this new instrument and were simply bewildered that how such a simple looking piece of bamboo could produce such powerful music.
17. Gradually the word spread about the guitar outside India as well and in 1975 one of the greatest guitarists the world has ever seen Bob Dylan visited our small hometown to personally experience the magic of the instrument which people had been enchanted with.
18. The event was covered by global media and after the performance Bob Dylan was in tears and hugged the guitarists and that was the day when that simple invention of bamboo guitar became a global attraction.