Walter Kaufmann, the composer of All India Radio's signature tune, was a Jewish refugee from Germany who lived and worked in India during the 1930s. He left Germany due to the rise of the Nazis and contributed significantly to Indian music through his work at All India Radio and beyond.
Remember the
All India Radio signature tune
? Millions of Indians would wake up daily to this gentle melody which was first composed and broadcast nearly 90 years ago in the 1930s and since then it has become part of our nation’s collective consciousness. But not many know about its history or about the musician who composed this melody which keeps haunting us mysteriously like the little bee that flies off the lotus as it opens out every morning.
In this podcast,
Sharmila Ganesan
speaks to film historian, scholar and writer
Amrit Gangar
, who tells us about the composer of the famous
All India Radio
(
AIR
) tune who was not from India.
English (US) ·