Aaj phir aapki kami si hai.....

It was sometime in May, 1994 at a concert hall in Houston. As I listened to that soulful voice singing 'woh kaagaz ki kashti', I let the tears flow unabashedly down my cheeks. Had held them tight over the past 10 days since my Patti's (grandmother) demise. That line 'woh budiya jise bachche kehte the nani' broke open the floodgates and I finally wept at her going-away! Post concert, I simply had to go up and express my gratitude as well as appreciation to the artiste. That was my first interaction with the legendary 'King of Ghazals', Shri Jagjit Singhji!

My husband Neville, had initiated me into Jagjitji's music in the late 80's. Since, every new album found its way from the store shelf to our homes and into our hearts! 'Marasim'; 'Hope'; 'Someone, Somewhere' being a few of them.

My frequent visits to the Taj Salon at the Hotel Taj Mahal, Mumbai led to many subsequent meetings with the singer. For some reason unknown to me, each time, he welcomed me warmly with the standard question 'Aap U.S. se kab aayein?'. This amused me each time and I did my best to undo that notion. But that first meeting on foreign soil ensured my 'U.S. citizenship', atleast in Jagjitji's mind!

My husband Neville was a keen aero modellor. His weekend sojourns to the Mahalaxmi Race Course invariably got him to meet Jagjitji who went there regularly for his walks. Neville being an ardent fan of his, would strike up a conversation and created a niche for himself in Jagjitji's memory pool.

In 2006, my husband left his body and moved on. For a while after that I could not bring myself to listen to any of Jagjitji's ghazals. Each had a memory attached and the act of listening to it required a mental armour to combat the pain!

In 2009 I was working on a 'Mumbai Anthem' project with Sonu Nigam. He composed the music and got every singer to partake in it, including Jagjitji and Talatji. The recordings were conducted at Sonuji's studio and scheduled over 3/4 days where all the artistes came. One of those evenings were ear-marked for Jagjitji and Talatji. Upon their arrival, Sonuji introduced me to them. Jagjitji's immediate reaction was 'per yeh toh America se hain na?'. I could not help laughing even as Sonuji tried telling him that I am a complete 'desi' product! That's when I remarked and told Jagjitji, how thanks to him each time we meet, I feel like a U.S. citizen!

During the course of the night, Jagjitji, Talatji and I found ourselves alone in the outer room as Sonuji and the others were inside the studio. Talatji picked the 'harmonium' and requested Jagjitji to hum a few lines. Jagjitji obliged and Talatji accompanied him on the 'harmonium'. At one point, I gathered enough courage to appeal to Jagjitji to sing one of Neville's favourite ghazals. Just before that, I mentioned his meetings with Neville at the race course. Jagjitji's reaction was 'arre haan. But I haven't seen him for a while. Where is he?'. I gingerly broke the news of Neville's demise. Jagjitji was shocked! The next couple of hours were dedicated to Neville! He turned the 'harmonium' towards himself, got so involved, gazed into my eyes and sang every ghazal I requested of him. Meanwhile, listening to that sonorous voice, Sonuji and the others trooped into the room and soaked in the melody!

I could not have asked for a bigger tribute to be paid to Neville. That night am sure Neville was present and enjoyed the moment as much as the rest of us did! For me, unknown to anybody else, it was an unspoken gift, on the eve of our wedding anniversary!

Shukriya Jagjitji!
Aaj phir aap 'dono' ki kami si hai.....