Diving in….

I remembered this ghazal when I was woken up at 3.30 am by a call from the hospital. The call had brought in transient wakefulness and the notes of the song brought back Somnus.

The ghazal was first released more than 3 decades ago as part of a 2 CD album by Jagjit and Chitra Singh called Beyond Time. It was touted to be the first digitally recorded album of its kind in the country. It was very well covered by the music critics in newspapers before it’s launch ( the only coverage most non film albums would get those days). I remember reading the piece on P5 or P7 in the TOI (I would read it those days before it had degenerated to become the Toilet Paper of India) and after my hospital work, crossed over to East Street and walked across to Express Book Service (one of my sources of the latest music albums) where the owner told me he was expecting the album in a few days. I left my number with him and he duly called once it did reach his shelves. The album was wonderful, sounding so different from previous Jagjit Singh albums. I must say I liked this melody a bit more than the others in the album. I don’t really know why. https://youtu.be/GXJnc6pteus

I loved the way Jagjit and Chitraji harmonize in the rendition. The vocals with the music make for a heady mix.

The lyrics by Nazir Bakri are very nice, indeed.

अपनी आँखों के समुंदर में उतर जाने दे

नज़ीर बाकरी

अपनी आँखों के समुंदर में उतर जाने दे
तेरा मुजरिम हूँ मुझे डूब के मर जाने दे

ऐ नए दोस्त मैं समझूँगा तुझे भी अपना
पहले माज़ी का कोई ज़ख़्म तो भर जाने दे

ज़ख़्म कितने तिरी चाहत से मिले हैं मुझ को
सोचता हूँ कि कहूँ तुझ से मगर जाने दे

आग दुनिया की लगाई हुई बुझ जाएगी
कोई आँसू मिरे दामन पे बिखर जाने दे

साथ चलना है तो फिर छोड़ दे सारी दुनिया
चल न पाए तो मुझे लौट के घर जाने दे

ज़िंदगी मैं ने इसे कैसे पिरोया था न सोच
हार टूटा है तो मोती भी बिखर जाने दे

इन अँधेरों से ही सूरज कभी निकलेगा ‘नज़ीर’
रात के साए ज़रा और निखर जाने दे

I loved the way Jagjit Singh has composed with the accent on the radif. Kind of emphasizes and drives home the meaning.

This is a longer version of the same ghazal. I enjoyed the languorous feel to it. https://youtu.be/u4AQ2kXG1lk

Stay safe, folks. Hope you liked the ghazal as much as I did.

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