I belong to a small place near Nasik called 'Dhule'.

I always wanted to learn how to play the Guitar since my childhood. But there weren’t such facilities around my hometown and hence I couldn’t find any Guitar teacher. After my college studies, in 2007, I got into Pravara College of Engineering, Loni, Ahmednagar to pursue Mechanical Engineering.

This place was very remote. I really didn't want to do it but due to social pressure, I had to. While I was studying engineering, I met a guy whose name was Manoj Patil. He had a guitar, which he wasn’t playing, and he lent it to me as he noticed my struggle to learn music.

That was the start that I needed.

Now all I needed was someone to teach me, which was a task considering the remote geographical location. So, I started taking lessons from YouTube.

Fortunately, music was a big part of my life since my childhood, so I didn't take much time to pick up the intricacies of music. Slowly I was getting better and tried performing at College gatherings, and it went really well. Everyone in my college supported me a lot.

It was my last year in college and I was matured enough to take my music learning further. At this point, as I was planning what to do after finishing my engineering, I visited Pune since my close friend and senior stayed here.

I wanted to know what the music scene in Pune was like.

This was a time when I came to know about Muziclub and the Sunday jams that they held. It was a weekday (don't remember which day) when I visited Muziclub, Baner. It was in the afternoon and there was a guy lying on the couch, with a guitar in his hands.

I was just checking out the place and this guy woke up suddenly and started playing and singing. I was very impressed with his aura. After that, someone told me to attend the Sunday Jam. I stayed back in Pune until Sunday and witnessed my first Sunday Jam.

The guy from the couch sang again, his name is Mohammad Muneem.

I felt this was the place that I had been searching for. The following day I had to go back to my college (as it was Monday). I really didn't want to go back but I went anyway. I don't know how, but I was at Muziclub again on Thursday evening. I prepared a song and performed at the Sunday Jam.

That was my first performance at the Jam.

My new journey towards music started during my last year of engineering. I kept shuttling between Loni and Pune for almost 6 months. In spite of the travelling, I kept performing at the Sunday Jams, even during my exams (this affected my academics a lot).

I was very eager to move to Pune after college and on 9^th July 2012, I did. When all my friends were looking for jobs, I was sitting at home and practising the guitar. But I had to take up a job eventually because I was a Mechanical engineer. However, my performances at the Sunday jams were going on simultaneously.

I applied for a job in a few companies and went for a couple of interviews. I found a job at Eminence Pvt Ltd. and I finished my PG diploma in Design Engineering from CadCamGuruPune at the same time. While working as a Design Engineer (Catia), I started learning intermediate-advanced guitar from Luke Macedo, at Muziclub.

I also came across Shruti Jakati ma’am (Principal, Muziclub), who has the most melodious singing voice. She started mentoring me like my mother. I also met a very humble and sweet guy with broad white specs, Hardik Vaghela (Co-founder, Muziclub).

Shruti Mam and Hardik Sir mentored me and thus improved my performances at the Sunday Jams. "Mohammad Muneem" was still like a celebrity to me and I was hesitant while talking to him, but I was really comfortable with Shruti Mam and Hardik Sir

Few months passed, I was working but not happy because I wasn't finding time to practice. I started forcing my parents to allow me to take up a career in music.

They said, "log kya kahenge, have you gone mad?".

Slowly I was walking towards frustration. Then my friend, Sachin Akhade told me, “why don't you start teaching guitar if you play so well.” I had never thought about it, but my friends insisted that I start teaching Guitar in my society.

I started teaching and taking few home tuitions. Meanwhile, I came across a post by Muziclub, saying "Hiring Guitar Faculty"

I texted Hardik Sir and Shruti Mam about it. I really wanted to start teaching at Muziclub and I got a call from Mohammad Muneem the next day. I was extremely happy; I skipped work and went to Muziclub for the interview.

He asked many questions. But there’s one I still remember.

Mohammad Muneem:

Why do you want to join Muziclub?

Me:

Because I want to be like

"Mohammad Muneem"

He smiled 🙂

And I got my first batch at Muziclub, Baner as a teacher. I was feeling like I don't need a Job now, so I quit my job. I went against the wishes of my family, had a fight with my parents and they stopped talking to me for almost a month.Days passed, I had

Days passed, I had a bunch of students at Muziclub. I practised hard every day to fit the frame of a 'Teacher'.

I won the best teacher award for two consecutive years.

During this time I met Abhishek Walimbe. He was pursuing his sound engineering degree from SeamEdu Pune.

I formed a band with him called “Foster Black”. We performed for almost 3 and half years, playing gigs all around Pune.

I was in need of a good electric guitar and gear for the performances. Mr Devinder Singh Chahal (Director, Muziclub) helped me with almost 40k to buy an electric guitar. It was really overwhelming. I still can't thank him enough for this. This was the most precious gift of my life from him.

He actually roped me towards my dreams. The band was getting better with Prateek Nandan (lead vocalist), Abhishek Walimbe and me. We played a few big gigs in Pheonix market city Bangalore, Blue frog Pune etc.

Since the start of 2016, I was thinking about starting another Muziclub at Pimple Saudagar. The plan was there, but it was not possible for me to invest in it.

So this idea was abandoned for 6 months.

For a while, I knew Mr Neeraj Gaur. He is a big businessman. I taught him how to play the guitar (Still teaching) He is elder to me, but still, I shared a good relationship with him. He supported my idea of "Muziclub Pimple Saudagar"

He didn't just support this idea but he made it possible. He invested in my idea of a Muziclub franchisee. He taught me many things about the business.

I’m still learning a lot from him.

This is how Muziclub PS came into the picture and with this, I once again came across more beautiful people like Neelima mam (PS Principal), Anil Kumar (Office Assistant), Kaustubh Maslekar ( Administration Head, PS), Akshata Gullapali ( CRO, PS)

All these lovely people believed in my dreams and came together to make this possible. In just one year, we have 300 active students at PS!

Now I firmly believe that if you really believe in your dreams, and work hard towards them, the universe will make it a reality.

– Harsh Bagle

#howwelivemusic #getinspired

Pimple Saudagr is celebrating their 1 year anniversary as part of the #muziclubJamFest today. Be there!