Every year the participants of Mumbai Marathon are greeted with cheerful musical notes at Peddar Road, which helps them beat marathon blues. This year is no exception. Like every year, the musicians of Mumbai Harmonica will be back with their musical notes, motivating the marathoners to complete the run.
Since the last three years, the group of harmonica players had been standing at the Peddar Road to cheer the south-bound Marathoners with a message 'Great Going. From here on it is only downhill'. The runners respond with a dance or wave of hands or just sing along as they pass by. It's the smile that lights up their tired faces after listening to the tune of harmonica inspires them to come back every year and play for the runners
The practice started three years ago when Ramesh Parikh, a Peddar Road resident, took to streets with a harmonica to cheer the runners. Parikh, now 82-year-old, says it is a two-way cheering. "We not only encourage them to complete the run, but they also cheer us back by dancing to our tunes or with a wave of hands. We have a group of harmonica players, we asked them to come and play, and they obliged happily. This will be our fourth year," said Ramesh.
Parikh coordinating with the runners for the timings so that they don't miss them when the latter cross the Peddar Road. The group changes its location depending upon the runner's route .
"We play mouth organs and few other musical instruments non-stop for about three hours. A total of 10 to 12 people come to play Bollywood and Western Pop selections at horse-trot tempo to match those tired legs having climbed to the highest point of their run," added Parikh.
No good deed comes without a hurdle. Last year, the police had asked them not to use the mike. "This year we are planning to take permissions from the police. They did not allow us to use mike last year because it is a silent zone. If we don't get permission, we still play the instruments without a mike."
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