A vintage piano, which lies dumped in the cellar of Gandhi Hospital along with discarded furniture, may be restored to its old glory — at least as much is possible. Currently, it is in a dilapidated state as the strings are either lost or not in alignment.
Although it is estimated to be more than a century-old, the age of the musical instrument has not been accurately determined. Recently, when a thick layer of dust on the piano was wiped, a logo reading ‘Allison The Great English Piano Estab 1837’ was seen.
Former superintendents of the hospital say nuns from Italy, who used to serve as nurses at the hospital when it was an infirmary, used to play the vintage musical instrument.
Gandhi Medical College (GMC) alumni association members have now come forward to restore the piano to the maximum possible extent and shift it to their association building. However, it remains doubtful if music will flow out of the piano as many parts of it are either lost or misplaced.
Sentimental value
The Gandhi Hospital was started in 1851 as an infirmary with three wards which was developed into a Cantonment Hospital in 1900. “It has progressed to King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in 1913 (sic),” reads a description on the hospital website. It was renamed Gandhi Hospital in 1958. Decades later, in 2004, it was shifted from Monda Market to Musheerabad. Along with furniture and medical equipment, some antique and vintage items which carried tales of history were also shifted.
However, thieves started to rob whatever was left behind. Among the stolen things were some parts of a huge metallic staircase with floral design, installed in the erstwhile KEM Hospital in 1917.
In fact, when Gandhi Medical College alumni Dr. K. Lingaiah and Dr. B. Ranganath Reddy went to the old hospital in 2005 to check how to shift the staircase, thieves entered the building and started to break it. In fact, some parts were already stolen.
While the old staircase, now 102-years-old, was repaired and shifted to the Gandhi Medical College (GMC) alumni association building, not everything shifted was restored or given its right place, like the piano.
Brass and stone plaques on which chronicled historical events of the hospital, names of donors, were etched now lie in the alumni association’s office.
G. Ramulu (65), who has been working at the hospital since he was a boy, recalls there were two such pianos. However, no one knows where the second one is.
Dr A.Y. Chary, who was the hospital superintendent when one of it was shifted to the new address in 2004, said the piano used to occupy pride of place in nurses’ quarters in the old premises. “Nuns from Italy serving as nurses used to play it. After shifting it to Musheerabad, I looked for people who could restore it, but did not find anyone. When I was promoted and left the hospital, I remember it was in need of repairs,” Dr Chary adds.
On being contacted, former president of the alumni association Dr. Lingaiah says they plan to restore the piano to the maximum extent possible and shift it to the the GMC Alumni Education Centre. “Besides, we will fix the plaques in the Alumni Education Centre,” he adds.