About seventy kilometres from Delhi, in a dusty bylane of Meerut is the small factory of Nadir Ali & Co. which has been manufacturing musical instruments for over a hundred years. Chances are that a lot of the instruments played by musical bands of the Indian armed forces have been made here in this modest workshop. This relatively unknown workshop has also made musical instruments that have made it to collections held across the world including the famed musical wing of the Royal Navy.
Soldiers part of the armed forces bands seen rehearsing for the Beating Retreat Ceremony at Rajpath, New Delhi in January 2017.