Ajay playing his guitar in reverse grip. Picture by Vivek Singh

Kurseong, Feb. 4: Ajay Lamjel does not know what a guitar looks like, no one taught him how to play the instrument or even how to hold it. But mastering the ropes of the strings came to him as naturally as the unconventional ?reverse grip? on the neck of the instrument.

Robbed of his sight two months after he was born, the 24-year-old who has been strumming the guitar since he was four, knows the instrument only by its curves. He also knows Bollywood music director Bappi Lahiri, whose tunes inspired him to take up playing the instrument, only through his compositions.

A resident of Tung, a tiny hamlet midway between Kurseong and Darjeeling, Ajay has stunned listeners at countless stage performances with his guitar-playing skills and his out-of-the-ordinary grip.

?This is the grip I was always comfortable with,? Ajay, who is currently in Kurseong, said.

?I was always concerned with getting the right sound. It does feel nice to know, however, that not many people can play the guitar holding it the way I do,? he added with a smile.

Ajay?s skills with the stringed instrument were recently used for a religious album, which is slated for release.

?I was inspired by Bappi Lahiri?s compositions. That was way back in 1985. I would hear his compositions and play the piece on my guitar at marriage parties. It is a gift, I can memorise the notes and later play them on my guitar. This is how it all started,? Ajay said.

His brother, Deepak Lomjel, always wanted Ajay to take guitar classes and polish his playing skills, but Ajay would hear none of it.

?I have never taken guitar lessons. I am a self-taught guitarist,? he said.

In fact, Ajay learnt playing the drums from a teacher but has never played the drums on stage.

?Every time I step up on stage, people want me to play the guitar and not the drums. Maybe, the reverse grip fascinates them,? Ajay quipped.

Ajay has played in Nepal, Mizoram, Nagaland and Bhutan as a student of the school MSH for Blind on 9th Mile in Kalimpong.

But Ajay can do more than just play covers. He has composed his own tunes on the guitar and is ready to enthral anyone interested in listening to them.