You may have never seen a tuba, but you sure have heard one; it's the sound of the marauding shark in the thriller Jaws (1975) and in the theme song of the modern Stone Age family aka The Flintstones. Derived from the Latin word tuba meaning tube, the tuba evolved significantly over time to take its current oval shape with a conical tube and a cup-shaped mouthpiece. In 1590, Frenchman Edme Guillaume invented the serpent that resembled the carnivorous reptile. A little over two centuries later, the ophicleide was created by Jean Hilaire Asté, and after a decade, in 1835, the bass tuba came to be. Patented by Prussian instrument makers FW Wieprecht and JG Moritz, it claimed its place as the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the orchestra and military band.

When Sanjay Kalyani, bandmaster of the Mumbai Police and director of music, Maharashtra Police, first laid eyes on the three-and-a-half-foot instrument (the length and weight of tubas vary according to brand and pitch), he was disappointed. But today, he takes pride in being among the handful of the country's tuba players. Kalyani, 41, was always fond of music. Hailing from Kolhapur and now based in Dadar, he picked up the harmonium in class seven. After class 12, an advertisement showcasing vacancies for musicians at the Indian Navy piqued his interest. He was selected and joined the navy in 1997.