Deepak Radios: A ticket to the past, writes Disney Brar

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Music evokes so many feelings in us, memories, nostalgia, things that are connected to our past-Olga Kurylenko

Chandigarh, September 13

It was back in the year 1995, when I had shifted base from my birth city, Bombay now Mumbai to Chandigarh, that I first visited the Sector 17 plaza, and I happened to stumble across Deepak Radios, the name resplendent in bright neon Red, standing out and grabbing attention. Also, because the shop was belting out romantic hits from the 80s and 90s Hindi cinema in a non-stop string of melodies echoing across the Sector 17 Plaza.  

Those thoughtfully chosen melodies plucked from some iconic films instantly struck a chord inside me, which has since stayed put. That evening, I spent much of  my time loitering around the store, window shopping in other shops whilst enjoying the music being played out and peeking through the shop window, gazing at the posters of the films displayed there, while the rest of my family went shopping. I was lost inside my own world for good.

From then on, Sector 17 became a staple for me, and so did wandering around the vicinity of Deepak Radios, soaking in the soulful songs being belted out, each a gem, one after another. Sometimes with a coffee in my hand and sometimes just me and my thoughts, enjoying the compositions which feel like a balm on the soul. Sometimes I have also visited the shop to get my custom-made audio cassette recordings compiled or to just browse through the Vinyl records available there.

Now that I have completed more than four decades of life, I have seen myself grow old alongside this gem of a shop, which feels more like nostalgia and a yearning for the past. Deepak Radios is not just a shop but an emotion. A place where I have found myself juggling  in with a variety of emotions right from when I was just falling in love for the first time ,to when I was deeply drenched in the feeling,  to when  I was nursing heart-breaks, feeling ecstatic, exhilarated to feeling down in the dumps, depending on the stage of life I was passing through and the way life was treating me at that moment. 

Deepak Radios somehow always figured out a way to help me transcend the immediate situation of life at hand and just stride through it all, enjoying the old and the new melodies being belted out. Some songs hold the inherent philosophy of life encoded in them and find us at just the right time, at the right junctures in life. 

Right from ‘Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye’, ‘Dil Dhoonda Hai Phir Wahi’, ‘Tu Tu Hai Wahi Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha’, ‘Choti Si Kaahani Se’, ‘Aake Teri Baahon Mein’, ‘Ae Mere Humsafar’, ‘Chithi Na Koi Sandesh’ to ‘Tere Aane Ki Jab Khabar Mehke’, Deepak Radios always have the perfect melody being churned out to suit my mood at the moment.

Founded in 1965, Deepak Radios has stood steadfast in Sector 17 for 6 decades, serving the electronic and audio entertainment needs of city residents. What started out at a time when vacuum-tube radios and classic sound systems were in vogue has evolved over decades, offering home theatre systems, high-end electronics, contemporary audio gear, and now the Caravan hits; Deepak Radios has intrinsically woven itself into the socio-cultural fabric of the cityscape, spanning decades and having served generations of city residents. Situated near the musical fountain area, Deepak Radios has been a part of the golden age of Sector 17.

Talking to The North News, Dharampal Gupta, who comes from the family that owns the iconic Deepak Radios, says, “Deepak Radios was founded back in 1965 and has been very popular with the people ever since. My elder brother owns the shop, and he, along with my younger brother, decides which songs to play and when. We normally choose sweet melodies and peppy numbers which make the listeners feel good. We choose songs which are liked and enjoyed by all the generations.”

If you too have lived in Chandigarh and have been to the heart of the city-Sector 17 and strolled around the tree-lined pedestrian plaza, then you surely must have strolled around this vintage shop playing some classic songs which must have instantly put you at ease. And if you are an old-timer from Chandigarh, then you surely know what I feel about Deepak Radios- a landmark, iconic, and long-standing electronics store of not just Sector 17 but of Chandigarh.

With the changing times, the landmark building space nestling this shop has also adapted and accommodated retail franchise collaborations like Miniso alongside Deepak Radios, which is a perfect juxtaposition of the young and the old  Chandigarh in one frame. But, like Florence King once said, true nostalgia is an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories. Deepak Radios is a name etched deep in our hearts and in that of our beloved Chandigarh.