Some things just stay with you...

We grew with his voice, Jagjit Singh. My heart skipped a beat when I read about his demise. Feels like I have lost something, am actually sad.



The immortal 'Hoto se choo lo tum' was on the lips of every kid in my school. I still remember watching that song in 'Chitrahaar', the serial on the B&W TV in my house. His reverberating voice in 'Tumko dekha to ye khayal aaya' would instantly create a typical 'Jagjit romance' atmosphere.



Though I have always carried his impression as a melancholy singer, thanks to his first-love-in-music Ghazals, and sometimes even made fun of him by calling his voice depressive; one had to admit his outright supremacy amongst the contemporary singers of his genre, when one had heard 'Kagaz ki Kashti' and 'Main nashe me hun' and 'Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho' and 'Hazaron Khwaishe'.



One of my friends commented, his throat had a built-in amplifier and echo system. :-)


Some things are so much integrated in our lifestyles and ingrained in our consciousness that we notice them when they are taken away from us. I remember I used to spend hours in the balcony of my house, practicing a few of his songs, attempting to sing like him. I am sure it has done a lot of fine tuning to the frequency equalizer of my larynx.



In the last decade (if I am not mistaken), his contribution to the the Bhajan genre through 'He Ram, He Ram' and 'Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare' has been indispensable.



So, though, I will not say, 'mujhako lauta do bachpan ka saawan', because my Guru has taught me to live in the present, this post definitely is a tribute to a Maestro of one of his kind, Jagjit sahab, Tussi great ho, Tofa kabool karo!



May his soul rest in peace and move ahead towards its merger with the Infinite.

Gratitude and Pranams from a fan, an admirer and a student.

Jai GuruDev