New Delhi . 'Salt' in life is like sorrow, which makes you mature or in other words 'complete man'.
There was no shortage of 'salt' in Jagjit Singh's life. The one whom we kept getting separated from on every road, whom we taught to walk holding our fingers, whom we saw grow up before our eyes, has gone to that world, where neither any letter nor any telephone reaches. Perhaps, feeling this soulstirring sorrow, he had sung, “The world has snatched away from me, whatever I felt was dear to me, everyone was winning it, I have lost every sorrow.”
The song 'Hothon Se Chhu Lo Tum, Mera Geet Amar Kar Do' from the 1981 film 'Prem Geet' will still be fresh in your mind. It is considered to be the easiest song to express love, affection, affection. But, as romantic as the voice behind this song is, the deeper is the pain on their part. Only an unfortunate person should suffer such pain. Jagjit Singh ji also had the love and blessings of crores of fans. Yet, he too had to suffer such pain. This is called destiny, we have to suffer our share of pain and sing love songs.
However, let's talk about Jagjit Singh, who explained love to not one but many generations, taught them to feel, warm and live it. Moving forward from the film 'Premgeet', the 1982 film 'Arth' put Jagjit Singh on a high position in Bollywood or in other words, singing. Jagjit Singh had given the music in this film and its songs are still on people's lips even today.
The story of Jagjit Singh becoming a singer and music composer is a bit filmy. Jagjit Singh, born on 8 February 1941 in Sri Ganganagar, inherited music and understood both sur and taal. He met a top class guru like Pandit Chhagan Lal Sharma, at whose mercy Jagjit Singh learned classical music for two years. But, this was just the beginning of the life of a great singer.
As time passed, he learned Khayal, Thumri and Dhrupad from Ustad Jamal Khan Sahab. The father wanted the son to go into administrative service. Jagjit Singh loved tunes and decided to move forward with SurTaal. His interest in music increased while studying at Kurukshetra University.
At this time the Vice Chancellor encouraged Jagjit Singh. It was on his insistence that Jagjit Singh moved to Mumbai. You would think that after learning so much, Jagjit Singh would have got a comfortable break. No, life tested Jagjit Singh as much as Mumbai did.
Jagjit Singh had come to Mumbai. Initially, when I did not get a big break, I started singing jingles for advertisements while working as a paying guest. He would perform at weddings or other functions as soon as he got a chance. This effort was to earn a living and survive in a city like Mumbai.
In 1967, Jagjit Singh met Chitra Singh. Both were associated with songs and music, so first they fell in love, then Iqraar and later in 1969, both of them held each other's hands for seven births. Jagjit Singh was continuously facing defeat on the work front. Neither the movies nor their music were playing.
Dimple Kapadia and Vinod Khanna were paired in the film 'Leela'. But, its music was average. Even after this, the songs and music of films like 'Billu Badshah', 'Kanoon Ki Awaaz', 'Raahi', 'Jwala', 'Laung Da Lashkara', 'Sitam' also did not work. These films also did not do much good. He was not disappointed. Continued trying.
The year 1975 brought happy feelings for Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh. Their album 'The Unforgettables' was released and within no time the duo became a hit among music lovers. After this, Jagjit Singh did not look back and sang many songs and ghazals one after the other.
Jagjit Singh's busy schedule started increasing in the 80s. Many offers to sing in shows, albums and films kept coming and Jagjit Singh moved forward one by one. In 1987, Jagjit Singh's digital CD album 'Beyond Time' came out, Jagjit Singh became the first Indian musician to do this album. At the same time, life was also showing its sorrows. On one side Jagjit Singh was climbing up and on the other side life was taking us down.
In 1990, Jagjit Singh's only son Vivek died at the age of 18. This incident left Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh devastated. It is said that Jagjeet and Chitra had given up singing after Vivek's passing. But, the prayers of the fans came to fruition, both of them again held the mike and sang the song, 'No letter or message, don't know which country you have gone to.'
The pain of both is reflected in this song. This song was a superhit and became a part of people's playlist forever. Many songs sung by Jagjit Singh are 'Hosh Walon Ko Khabar Kya', 'Badi Nazuk Hai Yeh Manzil', 'Kaagaz Ki Kashti', 'ChupkeChupke Raat Din', 'Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho', 'Tumko Dekha To Ye' 'Khayal Aaya', 'Tum Bin' are still the first choice of music lovers.
Jagjit Singh not only sang ghazals, he also gave voice to the poems of poets like Mirza Ghalib, Mir, Majaz, Firaq Gorakhpuri. Jagjit Singh, who sings in many languages including Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2003. Jagjit Singh said goodbye to the world on 10 October 2011. But, even today his voice is present around us, which says, 'Slowly, slowly… you are spreading your eyes, you are coming closer.'
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Image Credit: Khaskhabar.