In my childhood there were hardly any audio visuals or communication materials. For any event that time they used to have the local musical instruments like shehnai,flute,tabala,drums etc. Since we were hardly reading 4th or 5th standard and we friends to go to the nook and corner of the village wherever an event takes place such as marriage or any other related events as we enjoy the music and we used to dance to the band party and enjoy and we forget how much time we used spend there and when we go home we used to get scolding and beating from the parents.
Similarly time passby we used to have gramophone and mkes in the village. For similar auspicious events like marriage etc. that time only the rich people used to bring these as they were only be able to afford as these were new that time and bit expensive to hire. At the function place mostly they built a temporary pendal type and decorate them with flowers and coconut leaves and lots of lightings and they keep the gramophones tie them; in different polls and they start playing the music very early in the morning of the day when that marriage takes place. Since ours is a small village when they play music its clearly audible to all the streets in the villages and people come to know something is taking place somewhere.
I used to go as soon as i come back from school and make a friendship with the operator of gramaphone. The landlord give a separate room to keep the gramaphone and all the electrical fittings. So very few people allowed to sit there. As you know we are respected in the village being Karana family and i used to get an opportunity sit near the place where they play songs..
They used to have round shape records of films songs and they used to play the popular songs of that time. and even people want them to repeat the same song. Here the Discs used to be initially clay ones which can break if fell and then over a period of time they used to have plastic Discs. And even for one song they used to have one side of the record and the other side of the record one more song. Though over a period of time in on record there used to be a number of songs. They put a record in the slot where the disc is to be kept and then that time there used to be a tiny box of pins. In one box around 50 or so pins used tobe there. You need to take out one pin and need to put inside the handle of the record player and tight the screw then take this on to the disc which moves around as the machine has a motor inside. They put the handle on the disc and the song start to play. For each disc you need to change the pin and the used pin will not work again.
These gramphones are also used during festivals in the village and when you have stage programmes like Burrakadha, Harikadha, mythlogical dramas and so on.
We eagerly wait for any occassion or festivals as we used to enjoy going to those functions and listening to the songs. When the mikes keep on for the drama or any announcements children used to go there and sing songs whatever way they sing. I also used to sing properly in tune with the song and some even used to appreciate.