At the home of Hohner

"One should never give up a cherished dream,” says talented housewife Coomie Sam Kasad, whose long held teenage dream was realized at the age of 65 on September 8 and 9, 2007 at Trossingen, Germany when she was present, along with her son Sheriar at the 150th jubilee of the Hohner Harmonica Factory. As an 18-year-old student of Bandra’s National College, Coomie (née Mistry) was taught how to play the harmonica by her talented father Tehmurasp, who was adept at the instrument as well as with bagpipes. Later, Coomie trained with the legendary Pheroze Damri. Recognizing her potential, Damri did not charge her for the lessons, reveals a write-up forwarded to Parsiana by Kumi Daroo­wala, president emeritus of Rustom Baug Association.

Since 1953 Coomie has been a member of the Hohner Harmonica Club started by Damri. She won all the contests she entered. After she bagged the Lions Harmonica Contest Championship Trophy for four consecutive years she was requested to step aside to give other contestants a chance! It was then that she decided that "I would one day go to Germany and bring honor to my country and my community.”

The opportunity to do that came nearly 50 years later when her younger son Sheriar and his wife Anita, settled in Sydney, Australia, happened to chance upon an announcement of the Hohner jubilee cerebrations in Germany while surfing the Net. Aware of his mother’s dream to perform in Germany one day, the trip was planned and they flew to Germany before Coomie could even react, writes Daroowala.

Left: Coomie Kasad with Herr Meier and Klaus Steller; (right) playing theme song with son Sheriar

At Trossingen, Coomie and Sheriar were noted the only mother-and-son team from India. Herr Meier, president of Hohner, introduced them to managing director Klaus Stetter and other dignitaries. They spoke about interest in harmonica music in India and Stetter was very impressed and pleased when he saw her youthful competition photographs. He requested the Kasads to be photographed along with him and his colleagues in front of the house where the founder, Mathais Hohner was born. The Kasads were also taken to the family cemetery where they placed floral tributes.

At the rendering of the jubilee theme song, for which 2,000 participants were expected, the Kasads joined 2,500 people playing their harmonicas together, shoulder to shoulder, creating a record which will make it to the Guinness Book of World Records.

While they were visiting the museum where generations of harmonicas of various shapes and sizes are displayed, a skilled technician made a harmonica from scratch right in front of their eyes and invited Coomie to play on it for the visitors. She was then presented the coveted instrument as a memento. In a letter of thanks to Stetter, Sheriar wrote: "I had planned this trip to make my mum’s dream come true. However, never in my wildest imagination could I have contemplated the joy she derived (from the experience)… She has been talking about this to everyone she meets.”