In memoriam

Jagjit Singh, the ghazal king in India, plays quite often in our home. His honey soaked voice gives an unmatched level of calm. Something most necessary after a day’s work. Music has this unique ability to induce quiescence in the most turbulent of minds and instil peace where only a few minds there was a chaotic disquiet.

He started off in an entirely (for India at the time) unmarked and unchartered territory at a time when the field was restricted mostly to the living rooms of the Urdu speaking elite from North India, mainly Western Uttar Pradesh. With his wife and singing partner, he created space for himself and by his amazing dedication, focus and hard work met a quantum success that none had met before and which will be well nigh impossible to match in times to come.

Sadly his personal life ran into cataclysmic turbulence with his only son passing away in a tragic accident with the vehicle they were traveling in running into a stationary, unmarked vehicle late one night in Mumbai. The distraught parents released a touching album as a tribute to the lost Son and Chitra Singh never sang after that,neither in concerts nor in a studio. This wonderful song is from that album.

A truly gut wrenching paean of pain. https://youtu.be/TUdnQaNSP3g

दिन गुज़र गया ऐतबार में

दिन गुज़र गया ऐतबार में
रात कट गयी इंतज़ार में

(ऐतबार = विश्वास)

वो मज़ा कहाँ वस्ल-ए-यार में
लुत्फ़ जो मिला इंतज़ार में

(वस्ल-ए-यार = प्रिय व्यक्ति से मिलन)

उनकी इक नज़र, काम कर गयी
होश अब कहाँ होशियार में

मेरे कब्ज़े में कायनात है
मैं हूँ आपके इख़्तियार में

(कायनात = सृष्टि), (इख़्तियार = अधिकार, स्वामित्व)

आँख तो उठी फूल की तरफ
दिल उलझ गया हुस्न-ए-ख़ार में

(हुस्न-ए-ख़ार = काँटों की खूबसूरती)

तुमसे क्या कहें, कितने ग़म सहे
हमने बेवफ़ा तेरे प्यार में

फ़िक्र-ए-आशियाँ, हर ख़िज़ाँ में की
आशियाँ जला हर बहार में

(फ़िक्र-ए-आशियाँ = घर की चिंता), (ख़िज़ाँ = पतझड़)

किस तरह ये ग़म भूल जाएं हम
वो जुदा हुआ इस बहार में

-फ़ना निज़ामी/ फ़ैयाज़ अहमद फ़ैयाज़

This is a unique piece of verse , with alternate ash’aar written by the two poets. This is referred to as a hum-radif ghazal. Radif ( meaning order) is a rule in Persian, Turkic, and Urdu poetry which states that, in the form of a ghazal, the second line of all the couplets (bayts or shers) must end with the same word/s. This repeating of common words is the radif of the ghazal. A unique and very creative collaboration, this.

Jagjit Singh would sing this ghazal in his concerts later as he continued to sing to sublimate his pain. In this phase he helped many an organization raise many millions for charitable purposes, much more than before. The lament is much more poignant as he sings alone. Listen to this, a bit longer version from a live concert. https://youtu.be/vTcikeX7Fn0