Music for d soul-Jagjit's haunting voice

Jagjit Singh prefers live concerts to studio recordings. — Photo by Vinay Malik

Age has failed to wither his music. Like many years ago, Jagjit Singh, the master composer, still understands the soul of a musical heart to perfection. He still touches chords deep inside that one never knew existed. And just when you thought destiny had written him off, back he comes knocking at the reservoirs of locked emotion, letting them surface.

Suddenly his music grabs the soul and sets the spirit free. Like old times when it would knot sweet pain and ecstatic love in strange weaves, his melody returns to tug at every lover's heart. And it does so with a sweet, unexplainable urgency, typical of this man's manner. It unleashes a world of acceptance, which shone intensely in his all-time classic Yeh kagaz ki kashti

Each of Jagjit's offerings is so perfect that years after it was rendered, nothing quite equals its charm. Be it through the controlled restraint of Baat niklegi to phir or the subtle spoof of Duniya jise kehte hain, Jagjit, by the sheer virtue of his talent, continues to take the world on a roller-coaster ride of emotions, where it touches the zenith of ecstasy and the depths of despair. And as it see-saws in confusion, it doesn't quite know what it enjoyed more.

It's this strange now pain-now pleasure state of Jagjit's music, which still endears him to everyone, compelling them to soak in his melodies. The exclusivity of his music lies not so much in its success as in its ability to enter a listener's heart and stay there eternally.

For, through his music, Jagjit talks not just to people, but also their heart. And whatever disguise it may be buried under, every heart beats with the same poignancy, it bleeds over betrayal and sings in love; it cries over loss and rejoices in reunion.

Jagjit's music captures the pulse of beating hearts. Credit it to the maestro's composing skills or his conjurer-like control over lyrics and rhythms; he stands apart from his contemporaries, who never could achieve what he did.

And no matter how caustic his criticisms might have been, he always managed to tide over them, to consume them rather than be consumed. That's why he continues to be relevant even in times when some believe his musical innings is over.

In Chandigarh recently to visit Durga Das Foundation's school in Sector 26, the musician walked us down memory lane, spilling along the way details of his tumultuous life '85.an obscure childhood, a zealous youth, an arduous journey, a sweet home and a tragedy that set the tone for Jagjit's musical revival – a process that continues.

Jagjit is not too comfortable discussing his past, especially his childhood, which was drowned in obscurity. Born to humble parents, who wanted him to be in administrative services, Jagjit was quite unconsciously drawn to music.

As a child, he would devour Talat Mehmood's songs; as a youngster he loved Ustad Amir Khan's style. Soon, his fascination for music started paying off when as a youngster, he earned laurels for his Jalandhar college. The taste of success was sweet and Jagjit never let go of that tinge.

He admits: "I was destined to sing. I could perhaps not have done anything else. But it was the audience appreciation that kept me going. It gave me the courage to go to Bombay in 1961 and find a new life in a world that was unwelcoming."

Jagjit started off by singing at private parties of film personalities, courtesy Om Prakash, who introduced him to the film world. None of the actors, however, gave Jagjit a break. It was in only 1968 that Ajit Merchant gave him his first chance to sing in a Gujarati film.

Having tried his luck in films and failed, Jagjit moved on to master his talent for ghazal – a genre that had the power to connect to people. His deep, intense, voice helped him immensely. "It's a wonderful medium that enables communication, evokes people's emotion and angst at the same time. For me personally, a ghazal must be quintessentially philosophical at heart. That's why in my albums, lyrics are virtually gold. Technique is subordinate to poetry," says Jagjit, whose life in Bombay was all about struggle.

"I became a victim of jealousies. Few singers dominated the industry and I never got a chance. So I had to find myself one. I dedicated myself to ghazals. Soon HMV released my first EP (extended play) which had one more artiste," says Jagjit. The EP sold 5000 copies.

For Jagjit, Chitra has been the best critic, a friend who ensures that the best goes out. No wonder he still takes her to his recordings, though she stopped singing many years ago. In terms of singing, he says he doesn't miss Chitra. But she is a must-have when he's on job.

"I always ask her if my pronunciation is correct, if the voice throw is fine. I value her criticism on the technical aspects. But for composition and selection, I trust my instinct. She does she," says Jagjit, who married Chitra in 1970 after her first husband Debo Prasad Dutta divorced her. Just a year after the marriage, their son Vivek was born.

For Chitra, who had a tough first marriage, it was a proverbial coming around of life. "I learnt a lot from Jagjit ji. Singing with him was pure bliss. Even today, I want to return to singing and I have tried hard but I think I allowed my voice to rust for far too long. I can't find it back. I am now busy practicing healing and spirituality," says Chitra, who has shared many a golden moment with Jagjit. It is, however, The Unforgettables which still lights up the couple's faces.

Laced with ghazals like Raat bhi neend bhi and Baat nikalegi, The Unforgettables is by far Jagjit and Chitra's best album. It was made at the behest of Anil Sud of HMV who wanted Jagjit to do an LP, Jagjit's first. As always, Jagjit spent maximum time selecting ghazals. In those days, he used modern instruments to add variety to sound.

It was a new sound, different from traditional sounds identified with Ghulam Ali and Mehdi Hassan. People adored the album both for its music and its cover. Chitra's first husband took the picture of Jagjit and Chitra on the album's cover.

There was no stopping Jagjit after the success of The Unforgettables which was followed by Birha da Sultan, a tribute to Shiv Batalvi. The cover of this album had a portrait of Batalvi painted by Amrita Pritam's partner Imroz. After this came Come Alive, an HMV album, which for the first time featured effects of
audience participation.

Along side albums, concerts progressed. In 1979, Jagjit and Chitra went on their first proper tour of England, where they performed live at Wembley. In 1982 they repeated the act at Royal Albert Hall. Both the concerts were converted into albums that became hits. Around the same time came films Saath Saath and Arth, featuring Jagjit's songs. Even today, for HMV this is the highest selling cassette combination ever.

But Jagjit was to create more history, which he did with Beyond Time in 1987. It became the first digitally recorded album by any Indian artiste. No wonder it's still Jagjit's favourite. "We recorded 70 minutes of songs in London. The sound was revolutionary," he prides.

Success apart, the singer prefers live concerts to studio recordings: "On stage I can fly. I feel independent and more in control. And then I get the audience response. Recordings are comfortable as they allow you to repair your voice."

Not that Jagjit didn't have his share of studio work; he did several albums including Mirza Ghalib, which added classicism to his name.

Known for his sensible poetry selection, Jagjit created history by presenting Mirza Ghalib in a way that people could easily understand. Made by Gulzar, the teleserial by the same name was a rage as much as its music was.

Jagjit says: "The challenge was to keep the music simple because Ghalib was a poet, not a singer. It was also important to let the poetry speak. The album is my best, aesthetically," says Jagjit, who has, through music, immortalised Nida Fazli, Qateel Shafai, Ahmad Faraz, Kateel Azer, besides upcoming poets.

Not everything was going to be rosy for Jagjit. On July 28, 1990, his son Vivek died in a car crash in Bombay. Jagjit was devastated. He went silent for six months only to emerge stronger. That was the time when critics thought he was finished but Jagjit had many points to prove, yet. Some of his fine works came after 1990. These included Sajda with Lata Mangeshkar, Someone Somewhere, Hope, Kahkashan (recorded with Ali Sardar Jaffri for a teleserial), Silsilay with Javed Akhtar, Marasim with Gulzar and Samvedna (featuring Atal Behari Vajpayee's poetry).

For Jagjit, Vivek's death was a moment of desperation, which he converted into hope—something that found a reflection in the poetry of his future albums. His urge to fight back notwithstanding, people kept criticising him for stereotypical musical style that relied heavily on instrumentation.

But Jagjit was unfazed. "When I used instruments, I created a new style for myself, a style that could define me as a musician. Customs are meant to be reinvented. As for criticism, I bother little because I know God and people are with me. I still remember the day when I was about to begin a concert in Jammu and my voice choked. I couldn't sing for six months. I prayed to Mata Vaishno Devi to bless me with recovery and I recovered."

Since then, Jagjit and Chitra have been visiting the shrine every year to pay obeisance. Chitra, for her part, is into healing. She imbibed the art from the famous psychic Gordon Higginson of the London Psychic College, where Chitra went after her son's death.

Having endured his share of tragedy and triumph, Jagjit is desperate to bequeath his legacy. But he has no takers. "I've not yet found an earnest student who can carry my music forward. I feel sad about this and about the fact that the soul of music has been damaged by over-orchestration. Music videos and sound repairing techniques have ensured that music falls from grace. I wish I could change things," says a pensive Jagjit.

"It's difficult to say, but I have a pressing urge to start from the scratch, to return to times when I had the zeal to discover new horizons. Earlier on, when I had just started singing, the realisation of good music dawned much later. Now, it again seems to be eluding me. I must go back 30 years to find myself a fresh start," says Jagjit and departs.

Soon as he goes, an old, familiar melody returns to take his place. It goes: Us mod se shuru karen phir yeh zinadgi, har sheh jahaan haseen thi, hum tum the ajnabi.

Thanks Amit.

He has a very soothing voice and his voice and ghazals somehow go together for me.

Let me see if I can post any more articles on this.😊

Jagjit Singh, a legendary name in the field of ghazal singing, was born on 8th February 1941 at SriGanganagar in Rajasthan. His father Sardar AmarSingh Dhiman, a Government servant, originally hailed from Dalla village in Ropar district and his mother Sardarni Bachchan Kaur came from deeply religious Sokhi family of Ottallan village near Samralla. His siblings include four sisters and two brothers and he is fondly called Jeet by his family.Although his late father always wanted him to pursue IAS as a career, he took immense pride in his son's achievements in the world of music today. Schooling was done from Khalsa High School at SriGanganagar. He passed his Inter in Science stream from Government college, SriGanganagar. He graduated in the Arts stream from DAV College, Jalandhar. He also acquired a Post Graduate Degree in history from Kurukshetra University, Haryana.

His association with music goes back to his childhood days when he was twelve years old. He first learnt under Pandit Chaganlal Sharma for two years in SriGanganagar. After which for another six years he learnt under Ustad Jamaal Khan of Sainia Gharana, under whom he learnt all forms of Indian ClassicalMusic - Khayal, Thumri and Drupad. He always had an open mind and was ready to learn from lesser known but talented musicians throughout his college days. The Vice Chancellor of Punjab and Kurukshetra University, Late Professor Surajbhan envinced keen interest of music in him. He came to Mumbai in the year 1965 in search of a career in music. Like any other struggler, he too had his share of trials and tribulations. He never had a god-father and hence it was an uphill task to survive in Mumbai. He lived as a paying guest and accepted every singing assignment that came his way - be it jingles for ad films or performing at weddings and parties. In 1967 he met Chitra while doing jingles and they got married in 1969. They first tasted success with UNFORGETTABLES released in 1976 and since then there has been no looking back. They epitomise the first successful husband-wife singing team.

There was a time, in the decade of seventies to be precise, when people talked about Ghazals they usually meant Noor Jahan, Malika Pukhraj, Begum Akhtar, K.L. Saigal, Talat Mahmood and Mehdi Hassan. But the perceptions changed soon; in 1976 an album by the name 'The Unforgettables' hit the music stores. Essentially a Ghazal album, it had a new feeling about it, fresh sounds and melodic lyrics being the notable features of this album. Skeptics had their own reservations, purists scorned at it but the audience was, well, lapping up the album and this is what mattered or matters.

Jagjit Singh with his better half, is single handedly responsible for changing the course of this genre of music known as Ghazals making it more ear friendly, melodic and mass oriented without poaching on the purity, which he has remarkably maintained. An Aquarian, he was born on the eighth day of February in the year 1941 at SriGanganagar in Rajasthan. His father Sardar Amar Singh Dhiman, a Government servant, originally hailed from Dalla village in Ropar district and his mother Sardarni Bachchan Kaur came from deeply religious Sokhi family of Ottallan village near Samralla. His siblings include four sisters and two brothers and he is fondly called Jeet by his family.

The maestro has all the traits of the sun sign like inventiveness, vision, imagination and innovation. Although his late father always wanted him to pursue IAS as a career, he took immense pride in his son's achievements in the world of music today. Schooling was done from Khalsa High School at SriGanganagar. He passed his Inter in Science stream from Government college, SriGanganagar. He graduated in the Arts stream from DAV College, Jalandhar. He also acquired a Post Graduate Degree in history from Kurukshetra University, Haryana. His association with music goes back to his childhood days when he was twelve years old.

He first learnt under Pandit Chaganlal Sharma for two years in SriGanganagar. After which for another six years he learnt under Ustad Jamaal Khan of Sainia Gharana, under whom he learnt all forms of Indian ClassicalMusic - Khayal, Thumri and Drupad. He always had an open mind and was ready to learn from lesser known but talented musicians throughout his college days. The Vice Chancellor of Punjab and Kurukshetra University, Late Professor Surajbhan envinced keen interest of music in him.

Bollywood beckoned him and he reached Bombay in 1965 and his struggle from another wannabe to the pinnacle of Ghazal started. Like any other struggler, he too had his share of trials and tribulations. He never had a god-father and hence it was an uphill task to survive in Mumbai. He lived as a paying guest and accepted every singing assignment that came his way - be it jingles for ad films or performing at weddings and parties.

In 1967 he met Chitra while doing jingles and they got married in 1969.

They first tasted success with 'The Unforgettables' released in 1976, this album set new sales records and since then there has been no looking back. They epitomise the first successful husband-wife singing team. The love affair that started with 'The Unforgettables' continued well into 'Ecstasies'. It flew high with 'A Sound Affair' and grew passionate with 'Passions'. Needless to say, that all of them disappeared from the shelves like magic. And magic it was, of the duo's voice, of the blissful romance and the utter blithesome quality of their Ghazals.

While the above-mentioned albums were breezy, 'Beyond Time' released in the opening years of nineties was an experimentation with sounds and conveyed a feeling that was beyond space and time. Around this time the duo was struck by grief as their only son met an untimely death. Shocking, as it was to them, it was as much shocking for the innumerable fans across the world. The album is a tour to the soul, ethereal, conscientious and introspective. Fraught with pain, the album in one word is touching. 'Someone Somewhere' has become the last album by the duo together and subsequently Chitra Singh called it quits.

The towering persona of Jagjit Singh braved the tragedy and continued alone treating the listeners with gems like 'Hope', 'In Search', 'Insight', 'Mirage', 'Visions', 'Kahkashan', 'Love Is Blind', 'Chirag' and a few others. 'Sajda' in collaboration with Lata Mangeshkar was another brilliant release and made its mark as a classic Ghazal album. All of these and others further consolidated his position as the numero uno of Ghazal singing. The audience wanted more and Jagjit Singh obliged with his Punjabi albums. Ebullient, effervescent and bubbly, his Punjabi songs are pleasant as well as joyous.

Bollywood was more than smitten by him and tracks of classics like 'Arth', 'Saath Saath' and 'Prem Geet' bear witness to his calibre. The albums sell like hot cakes even today. Apart from singing, Jagjit Singh composed the music of a few films too. Ah, that reminds us of the splendid music he composed for the TV serial, 'Mirza Ghalib'. The sensitive poetry of Ghalib in Jagjit Singh's voice assumed a new meaning. It would not be out of place to say that till date if any artist has done true justice to Ghalib's immortal poetry, arguably it is Jagjit Singh. The album stands out as a magnum opus.

Like a true genius, Jagjit Singh did not restrict himself to Ghazals and has also cut a few albums of Bhajans. 'Maa', 'Hare Krishna', 'Hey Ram...Hey Ram', 'Ichhabal' and also 'Man Jeetai Jagjeet' in Punjabi, put him in the league of Bhajan singers that has a restricted membership and the prominent members of which are Mukesh, Hari Om Sharan, Yesudas, Anup Jalota and Nitin Mukesh. The soothing effect, his voice has on frayed nerves has prompted psychiatrists in metros to prescribe them to stressed out souls.

Of late, there has been a clear shift in the mood of his Ghazals; they have acquired a more soulful and poignant demeanour, as in 'Marasim', 'Face To Face' and the latest 'Aaeena' 'Cry For Cry'. But all through this romance never took a backseat! The journey to the soul is punctuated by romantic pauses like 'Dil Kahin Hosh Kahin'. A testimony to his popularity is his Ghazals in recent Bollywood flicks like 'Dushman', 'Sarfarosh' and 'Tarkieb'.

In addition to cultivating his own successful career, Jagjit Singh has been involved in guiding many new talents such as Talat Aziz and Vinod Sehgal. He is also active in several philanthropic endeavors such as the Library at St.Mary's, Bombay Hospital, CRY, and ALMA, an organization whose focus is to adopt students for further education and development.

Jagjit Singh (singer)