On May 29, 2012, on my way back from a meeting at Punjabi University, Patiala, I stopped by to meet blacksmith Sardar Tirlochan Singh of Doraha. His name had been recommended by one of my tabla students, Hansbir Singh and a pakhawaj/dholak student, Amrik Singh who have recently settled at my residence in Delhi to pursue their studies. Tirlochan Singh makes chimta-s for the kirtankar-s of the Nanaksar Samprada (tradition) which are relatively heavier than the chimte that are available off the shelf. Although I found his workmanship little crude but he is a fine chap. He eventually placed and refused to accept money for the chimta, minus the shakers, that I chose. I have invited him to visit the Anad Conservatory site at Qila, Sultanpur Lodhi where I want to develop a series of high quality chimte.

My crazy interns, two wild kids from Vasant Valley School – Himmat and Anmol, drank more than 8 glasses of juices, rejecting half of them (and they haven’t fallen sick) while I engaged in a conversation with Tirlochan Singh. I suspect that the glass of juice they sent for me was the one they had rejected 😉 Here are a few images from the visit to the workshop of Tirlochan Singh, a blacksmith.