The most popular Ghazal which held sway in the early ‘80s was “Honton se chhu lo tum, mera geet amar kar do”and the singer, Jagjit Singh. He along with his wife Chitra popularized the ghazals in the 70’s and 80’s. How can you forget the ghazal from their 1976 album The Unforgettables
“Ye daulat bhi lelo, ye shahurat bhi lelo,
bhale chheen lo mujhse meri jawaani
par lauta do mujhe ko woh bachpan ka saawan
woh kaagaz ki kashti aur bearish ka paani”
(Take back my wealth and fame, snatch away my youth, but return me back the monsoon of my childhood; the paper boat and the rain water)
The “Ghazal King” was born in 1941. He was raised as a Sikh by religion. Though his father wanted him to be an IAS officer, fate had something else in mind. Otherwise how would we have had the fortune of listening to his silken voice!
He learnt music under Pt. Shaganlal Sharma,who ran an academy on the first floor of Bakshi Type College, for two years in Ganganagar, and later devoted six years to learning Khayal, Thumri, Dhrupad forms of Indian Classical Music from Ustad Jamaal Khan of the Sainia Gharana school, a distant relative of Mehndi Hasan. Jagjit Singh devoted much of his time on “riyaaz” at a paan shop run by one Thakur Dutt Sharma.
He lived as a paying guest and his earlier assignments were singing advertisement jingles. Singh was first offered to sing in a Gujarati film, Dharati Na Chhoru produced by Suresh Amin. Jagjit singh sang in Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujrathi, Sindhi and Nepali languages. He grew to prominence with his Ghazals in the films Prem Geeth, Arth, Saath Saath, sarfarosh etc. He had 80 albums in his repertoire during his life. His compositions for the TV serial Mirza Ghalib based on the life of the poet Mirza Ghalib, remain extremely popular among ghazal aficionados. He is the only composer and singer to have composed and recorded songs written by the former Prime Minister of India Shri.Atal Behari Vajpayee. Besides ghazals, Jagjit Singh has also sung Bhajans and Gurbani (Hindu and Sikh devotional hymns respectively).
Jagjit Singh was the first Indian composer (and together with his wife Chitra Singh) in the history of Indian music to use digital Multi-track recording for their album Beyond Time (1987).
Together with sitar player Pt.Ravi Shankar and other leading figures of Indian Classical Music and Literature, Jagjit Singh had voiced his concerns over politicisation of arts and culture in India and lack of support experienced by the practitioners of India's traditional art forms, particularly folk artists and musicians. He had lent active support to several philanthropic endeavors such as the library at St. Mary's School, Mumbai,Bombay Hospital, CRY, Save the Children and ALMA.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the year 2003.
Mother Earth softly awakened her dear child on 10th October 2011 and took him away in a hush to put him securely in the warmth of her womb forever.
We salute the Ghazal King for his contribution to Indian music in general and Ghazals in particular and pay our most respectful homage.
MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE
-Nag
