In search of Harrison’s lost guitar

For 20 years George Harrisonrsquos guitar lay in a box in an apartmentrsquos store room in Padamsee apartments at Pali Hill Bandra part of the forgotten debris there Since it had never been opened no one even knew that it contained a guitar Or that it was Harrisonrsquos parting gift to a family whose company he had enjoyed while in IndiaYesterday in a living room in Pune I reverently held that very guitar in my hands and dared play a few notes on itThis is the story of how that moment came to passIt is wellchronicled that George Harrison only 25 then arrived in India on January 7 1968 with his buddy Neil Aspinall to record the soundtrack for the film Wonderwall He travelled as Sam Wells a cover he had used on his 1966 India visitThe ldquoquiet Beatlerdquo was known for his fluid quicksilver lead guitar riffsmdashand his reclusivity It was understood that he didnrsquot want to stay at the Taj Hotel A room was booked in a Hotel Oscar on Pali Hill Road When I visited it last week the words lsquoHotel Oscarrsquo were clearly etched on a metal plate by the gate but the electric sign above says the place is now The Perch after a successful second avatar as ShatranjIt must have been mere hours after he checked in that Sam Wellsrsquo cover was blownWord travelled up the short steep lane directly opposite Hotel Oscar to reach Padamsee Apartments where Beatles fan Ismail Padamsee lived George Harrison he learnt was just a stroll away Ismail walked down to the hotel and invited the legendary musician for a cuppa at his houseThe conversation we must assume was as good as the tea Harrison dropped in uninvited several times after that for tea and chitchat with Ismail and his wife Dowlut It became a thingAround the time he left India George Harrison visited Padamsee Apartments one last time carrying a box but the Padamsees were not home The box was left with the chowkidar Assuming it was Harrisonrsquos personal property and that he would come by to collect it Ismail instructed the chowkidar to park it somewhere safeWe do not know where it went next Perhaps the porch or the backyard or the garage We know only that no one came to claim it and that it disappeared from sight and memoryTwenty years passedMeanwhile Ismailrsquos daughter Taslim married Kabir Mitha and in 1974 they had a son KhalifKhalif remembers hearing Canrsquot Buy Me Love at age four and being utterly captivated He has been a lifelong Beatles fan a walking encyclopaedia of Beatles trivia and factoidsOne day as he was entering his teenage years his mother casually said ldquoDo you know George Harrison once came to this house for teardquoKhalifrsquos jaw must have droppedldquoAsk your grandfather he knowsrdquo she continued ldquoGeorge even left some box here but no one opened it No one came to collect itrdquoKhalif was beside himself overwhelmed by the implications ldquoGeorge Harrison was here He left a box No one opened it No one claimed itrdquo he said ldquoSo it must still be in the houserdquoMother and son embarked on a journey into the dark depths of the store room past layers of dust memories and the detritus of yesteryears and finally found the dusty old case The gift George left the Padamsees was still inside intactGeorge Harrisonrsquos lost guitar is semihollow with a sunburst finish vignetting from a dark outer edge to a warm amber centre The tag says it was made in Japan but the brand is smudged beyond legibility An expert says it could be a HarmonyTwo fshaped holes are visible on each side characteristic of acoustic guitars with electric tonal properties Mounted on the body are two metallic pickups likely humbuckers or singlecoil types Under the vintagestyle tremolo arm are four knobs for controlling tone and volumeKhalif already owner of 26 guitars cherished Harrisonrsquos gift as a relic but didnrsquot tinker with it When he saw his college buddy Arpana Gvalani struggling to start a burger joint called Gostana in Bandra he loaned her Harrisonsrsquos guitar to display sure it would help increase her footfallsMeanwhile Khalif married Radhika Soon the family grew by one when Rahim Khalif Mitha was bornWhen COVID19 hit Gostana closed down for good but the guitar stayed with Arpana who became a food and music bloggerIt should surprise no one that Khalifrsquos son Rahim is more a Beatles aficionado than the father Soon it was time for Ismail Padamseersquos precious guitar to came home once again this time going to his greatgrandsonKhalif has no plan to sell George Harrisonrsquos legacy He would like to restore it to its pristine condition though a master luthier has not been easy to findThere is a small lesson for everyone in this story the next time you send someone a gift make sure it looks like a gift And has a note with your name on itYou can reach C Y Gopinath at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper