Never far from my heart….

If I had to answer a “Desert Island” like question about which one singer I would like to take with me if I were to be marooned and castaway on a desert island, it would undoubtedly be the birthday boy for the day, My most favourite of Indian singers, Jagjit Singh.

He was born today as Jagmohan Singh Dhiman in Sriganganagar in Rajasthan. He is rightfully credited for the singular and outstanding popularity of ghazals in India and changing it from an esoteric form restricted to those who loved and/or understood Urdu, and taking it to those who didn’t necessarily relate to it, by choosing poetry that was the masses could relate to, in Hindi, and composing them in a modern way that emphasized the clear diction and elaboration on the meaning of words and enjoyment of the melodious musical composition where he felicitously combined classical Indian instruments with contemporary ones. In terms of Indian classical music, his style of composing and gayaki (singing) is considered as Bol-pradhan, one that lays emphasis on words. He highlighted this in his music for films as well. He was known for creating some unforgettable melodies and taking us out of the cacophonous chaos that Bollywood had degenerated into within a decade of the Golden Era of Bollywood ending from what was truly a time when melody was king. I feel his unique success (his prolific musical output was met with a greater sale of his records and CD than any other individual in India –which is so obsessed with film music) owes an equal measure to the decline of quality of Bollywood music as to his undeniable class. I daresay one’s misfortune was the other’s success. Needless to say, his class shone through as others of his genre could never generate the same degree of ecstatic fan following.

I was fortunate enough to first meet him in his two visits to my alma mater, G S Medical College, and also fortunate to meet him through the decades after I moved to Pune.

This ghazal sums up all of his qualities, choice of lyrics, fantastic composition, the amazing harmonization with Chitra ji and also my feelings for him. https://youtu.be/hyjhT3r2Aj8

फ़ासिला तो है मगर

फ़ासिला तो है मगर, कोई फ़ासिला नहीं
मुझ से तुम जुदा सही, दिल से तो जुदा नहीं

आसमाँ की फ़िक्र क्या, आसमाँ ख़फ़ा सही
आप ये बताईये, आप तो ख़फ़ा नहीं

(ख़फ़ा = नाराज़)

कश्तियाँ नहीं तो क्या, हौसलें तो पास हैं
कह दो नाख़ुदाओं से, तुम कोई ख़ुदा नहीं

(कश्ती = नाव, नौका), (नाख़ुदा = नाविक, मल्लाह)

लीजिये बुला लिया, आपको ख़याल में
अब तो देखिये हमें, कोई देखता नहीं

आईये चराग़-ए-दिल आज ही जलाएँ हम
कैसी कल हवा चले, कोई जानता नहीं

(चराग़-ए-दिल = दिल के दीपक)

-शमीम करहानी

These are the ash’aar he has included when he sang it for the album Someone somewhere, made as a tribute to Vivek, his only son, under tragic circumstances.

The actual ghazal is much longer. Most of the singers (even in the longer renditions in live concerts) can rarely render the entire ghazal. This ghazal is fabulous in its entirety and I thought I should reproduce that as well.