Babies born in 2019 will never get to hear Bhimsen Joshi, Mallikarjun Mansur and Kishori Amonkar live; but a baby born in 1954 is ensuring they'll at least get to hear them in MP3. Kishor Merchant, 64, a snowy-haired gentleman, a Santa Claus lookalike, grew up surrounded by Hindustani classical music. "Where the building is today was a bungalow," he says, indicating his current residence, right next to the governor's residence. The bungalow was also a musical salon.

"My grandfather, uncle and father were not only fond of classical music, but they used to host all-night concerts with musicians as great as Kesarbai Kerkar, Siddheshwari Devi, Begum Akhtar. We would call them jalsa, which would go on from 9.30 pm till 6 am. I feel that's how I inherited my love for Indian classical music." Along with a few material things: for instance, he was the first grandchild to get a personal spool player.