Jagjit Singh ji is no more....a loss to Gazal gayaki and sensible music. As it happens with me always....I didn't realize what does this loss mean to me? Though I got the news and said to myself and friends it's sad etc etc...but as such I was unaffected...I was busy with my normal daily routine..going to office...coming back and so on...suddenly one day while on-route to office in the bus, when I switched on my iPod and selected a song from 'Samvedana', an album by Jagjit where he composed for Atal Bihari Vajpayee's poems, it struck me that this person is no more in this world..whom I am listening to right now..! I am not going to see him again...! (it's not as if he was my neighborhood friend and I used to see him daily..but still) I used to attend his concerts in Mumbai, as & when I got a chance...and although off-late I used to get a bit disappointed with his singing in concerts as he used to experiment too much...but yet his uniquely deep & sensitive voice always used to enthrall & amaze. Often I have craved for his earlier concert singing...especially when I listen to some old concert recordings...like 'Duniya jise kahte hain' , 'Fir usi rah guzar par Shayad', 'Shola hoon bhadakne ki guzarish nahi karta' etc. I often wished I was there to attend his concerts when he was at his prime!
For me, he along with Ghulam Ali has been a great influence....I grew up in a family where hindustani classical music was the most played music(till we arrived on the scene! :-) ) my father & grandfather both knew playing Tabla & Sitar respectively. But we children.. were hardly impressed by classical music and looked at it as boring stuff. :-) Though now I appreciate classical music much more.
I remember listening to Ghulam Ali first time when I was a child and my father would often play his cassettes. Then later on I was introduced to Jagjit Singh by my elder brother when he entered his engineering 1st year. That was the time when a musical program called Saregama had also started on TV with Sonu Nigam as an anchor. For me, this program really generated an interest in the old Hindi Film music and other non-film music genres such as folk & gazals and even classical music...otherwise till then, for me music meant the then trendy hindi film music with numbers like...'tu cheez badi hai mast mast' :-). So from there on, I got attracted to Jagjit's deep voice with his unique small vibrations (harkatein). Jagjit and his wife Chitra made a really great singing pair...their contrasting natures of voice (While Jagjit's voice is deep & at lower octave..kind of outside-in, Chitra's is at higher octave...inside-out) seemed to complement each other's singing.
I have associated different phases of my life with one or the other Gazals of these two maestros. So whenever I recall past..the associated gazal comes first in mind! - That's the kind of attachment has been with Jagjit Ji & his gayaki, for me. But I often think that.....that's the beauty of these legends...they have left a legacy..they have given the world which will remain there even after them...even after they have passed away...the music..the compositions created by Jagjit will always be there with me...with other fans!
To conclude with one of his composition.. this is what he means to me - 'Jate jate wo mujhe achhi nishani de gaya.....Umr bhar doharaunga..aisi kahani de gaya.'
For me, he along with Ghulam Ali has been a great influence....I grew up in a family where hindustani classical music was the most played music(till we arrived on the scene! :-) ) my father & grandfather both knew playing Tabla & Sitar respectively. But we children.. were hardly impressed by classical music and looked at it as boring stuff. :-) Though now I appreciate classical music much more.
I remember listening to Ghulam Ali first time when I was a child and my father would often play his cassettes. Then later on I was introduced to Jagjit Singh by my elder brother when he entered his engineering 1st year. That was the time when a musical program called Saregama had also started on TV with Sonu Nigam as an anchor. For me, this program really generated an interest in the old Hindi Film music and other non-film music genres such as folk & gazals and even classical music...otherwise till then, for me music meant the then trendy hindi film music with numbers like...'tu cheez badi hai mast mast' :-). So from there on, I got attracted to Jagjit's deep voice with his unique small vibrations (harkatein). Jagjit and his wife Chitra made a really great singing pair...their contrasting natures of voice (While Jagjit's voice is deep & at lower octave..kind of outside-in, Chitra's is at higher octave...inside-out) seemed to complement each other's singing.
I have associated different phases of my life with one or the other Gazals of these two maestros. So whenever I recall past..the associated gazal comes first in mind! - That's the kind of attachment has been with Jagjit Ji & his gayaki, for me. But I often think that.....that's the beauty of these legends...they have left a legacy..they have given the world which will remain there even after them...even after they have passed away...the music..the compositions created by Jagjit will always be there with me...with other fans!
To conclude with one of his composition.. this is what he means to me - 'Jate jate wo mujhe achhi nishani de gaya.....Umr bhar doharaunga..aisi kahani de gaya.'
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