Since its composition in 1936, the characteristic melody of All India Radio has been heard by hundreds of millions of people. The tune, based on raga Shivaranjini, was composed by a Czech man, Walter Kaufmann, somewhat unexpectedly. He was the music director at AIR and one of the many Jewish exiles who sought safety from the Nazis in India.
Kaufmann arrived in India in February 1934 and stayed for fourteen years. Kaufmann launched the Bombay Chamber Music Society, which performed every Thursday at the Willingdon Gymkhana, just a few months after arriving in Mumbai. Kaufmann is playing the piano, Edigio Verga is playing the cello, and Mehta – Zubin Mehta’s father – is playing the violin in this performance. (Mehta is also thought to be the AIR tune’s violinist.)
