While My Guitar Gently Collects Dust

GEORGE Harrison wrote While My Guitar Gently Weeps after his return from India. Maybe, like me, he visited Indian homes where guitars bought with passion ended up as decorative showpieces.

- Sandesh

(This comedian is here to tell funny stories about Hyderabad)

GEORGE Harrison wrote While My Guitar Gently Weeps after his return from India. Maybe, like me, he visited Indian homes where guitars bought with passion ended up as decorative showpieces. He's obviously not talking about his guitar — which belonged to the lead guitarist of the world's most famous band. Even if one chord was played on it, the guitar would've called itself blessed and happily fed itself to termites.

I think George Harrison, through me, was talking about all the unplayed guitars lying in every third house I visit (yes, I'm doing a census). ChatGPT says 30,000–50,000 guitars are sold annually in Hyderabad. However, Raju Mallak from AV Musicals in Madhapur (I actually called the store — don't Chat GPT everything, kids) says 500–600 guitars are sold each month. But I bet that the gap between guitars bought and guitars played is bigger than the income gap between the Indian middle class and the rich.

Here is the life story of one such guitar — touched only to clean, never to play.