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.....
Monday, October 10, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Guru Purnima '2011
Being in the same space with 2 legends can sometimes be very overpowering. 15 July, 2011 was one such for me. It was Guru Purnima.
I reached the Gurukul at 5.30 pm to pick and drive Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia to meet his Guru, Guruma Annapurna Devi. This was to be my bit of ‘seva’ for the Guru in him.
Once we were seated and belted, we began on our journey to the other end of town. Under normal circumstances, this long drive would have seemed tedious, right from the moment of switching on the car’s ignition. But with Hariji beside me, this very same long drive translated into an ‘our time’. With him keeping rigorous travel schedules and with me keeping insane hours at work, this ‘our time’ had of late become quite a luxury!
An hour of never-ending line up of cars in Andheri, the snarling traffic jams on the highway finally gave way to an open albeit brief drive on the Bandra-Worli sea-link. Hariji insisted on paying the toll fee and did not pay any heed to my many protests. We got on to Worli sea-face and onto Peddar road. All this while, the various radio stations kept playing music, some pleasant and some others, not so! We discussed the advent of Pakistani singers in the Hindi film industry and how our own Sonu Nigam still held a special place in Hariji’s opinion.
Hariji spoke incessantly from memory. Of the years gone by, of the innumerable recordings he had been a part of, with greats such as Mohd. Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Latadidi, and others. And where he’d get paid a handsome sum of Rs 80/- per recording. He spoke about the hotel room (in Evergreen, Khar) which was home, when he moved to Mumbai in 1962. And how most other music directors also stayed there, having migrated into this ‘city of dreams’. How the Sr. Mr Raheja (of Raheja Builders fame) offered him a flat in Khar for what now seems a meagre, Rs 12,000/-. And which Hariji could not afford! Hariji then shared with me his joy of having subsequently invested about Rs 1 lakh in a home on Carter Road, Bandra, which he could finally call his very own. With so much of travel down memory lane, we did not realise the stress of our travel to Nepean Sea road, which we finally got to, after 2 hours!
The watchman recognized Hariji and we were immediately offered a parking slot within the compound. Taking along the gift hampers that Hariji had brought for his Guruma, we trooped into the elevator and got on to the 6th floor. As soon as we stepped out, the past came alive and I imagined all those times Hariji had visited this space in order to imbibe that celestial music, all of us are privy to, today!
Once we were inside her home, I had to request my heartbeats to slow down a bit. I was afraid the ‘lub-dub’ could be heard by Hariji. As we expectantly looked towards the door, we first heard her feeble voice. And then gradually as she walked into the room, I felt as though a luminous body was gracefully moving towards us. She looked at Hariji, like a mother would, towards her child. Hariji, bent down with great reverence and touched her feet. All of us settled down. For me, it was a moment in history witnessing the love, camaraderie and respect between these 2 great souls. When Hariji tried to introduce me, she cut in saying she remembers me from my past visits to her. Amazingly, she even remembered that I have a daughter! Who would say she’s past 80? After about an hour, she chided Hariji and told him it was time for his dinner and that he ought to leave. I don’t think any other person on the face of this earth is authorised to tell him so! Very obediently, Hariji got up, touched her feet once again, even as she scolded him for having come all the way to meet her.
On the return journey, we once again went back down memory lane and Hariji told me some amazing facts about Ustad Allauddin Khansaheb, the doyen of the Maihar Gharana and father to Guruma.
Once again, I felt blessed to have been in the presence of these 2 legends on Guru Purnima. I was overwhelmed and still am!
I reached the Gurukul at 5.30 pm to pick and drive Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia to meet his Guru, Guruma Annapurna Devi. This was to be my bit of ‘seva’ for the Guru in him.
Once we were seated and belted, we began on our journey to the other end of town. Under normal circumstances, this long drive would have seemed tedious, right from the moment of switching on the car’s ignition. But with Hariji beside me, this very same long drive translated into an ‘our time’. With him keeping rigorous travel schedules and with me keeping insane hours at work, this ‘our time’ had of late become quite a luxury!
An hour of never-ending line up of cars in Andheri, the snarling traffic jams on the highway finally gave way to an open albeit brief drive on the Bandra-Worli sea-link. Hariji insisted on paying the toll fee and did not pay any heed to my many protests. We got on to Worli sea-face and onto Peddar road. All this while, the various radio stations kept playing music, some pleasant and some others, not so! We discussed the advent of Pakistani singers in the Hindi film industry and how our own Sonu Nigam still held a special place in Hariji’s opinion.
Hariji spoke incessantly from memory. Of the years gone by, of the innumerable recordings he had been a part of, with greats such as Mohd. Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Latadidi, and others. And where he’d get paid a handsome sum of Rs 80/- per recording. He spoke about the hotel room (in Evergreen, Khar) which was home, when he moved to Mumbai in 1962. And how most other music directors also stayed there, having migrated into this ‘city of dreams’. How the Sr. Mr Raheja (of Raheja Builders fame) offered him a flat in Khar for what now seems a meagre, Rs 12,000/-. And which Hariji could not afford! Hariji then shared with me his joy of having subsequently invested about Rs 1 lakh in a home on Carter Road, Bandra, which he could finally call his very own. With so much of travel down memory lane, we did not realise the stress of our travel to Nepean Sea road, which we finally got to, after 2 hours!
The watchman recognized Hariji and we were immediately offered a parking slot within the compound. Taking along the gift hampers that Hariji had brought for his Guruma, we trooped into the elevator and got on to the 6th floor. As soon as we stepped out, the past came alive and I imagined all those times Hariji had visited this space in order to imbibe that celestial music, all of us are privy to, today!
Once we were inside her home, I had to request my heartbeats to slow down a bit. I was afraid the ‘lub-dub’ could be heard by Hariji. As we expectantly looked towards the door, we first heard her feeble voice. And then gradually as she walked into the room, I felt as though a luminous body was gracefully moving towards us. She looked at Hariji, like a mother would, towards her child. Hariji, bent down with great reverence and touched her feet. All of us settled down. For me, it was a moment in history witnessing the love, camaraderie and respect between these 2 great souls. When Hariji tried to introduce me, she cut in saying she remembers me from my past visits to her. Amazingly, she even remembered that I have a daughter! Who would say she’s past 80? After about an hour, she chided Hariji and told him it was time for his dinner and that he ought to leave. I don’t think any other person on the face of this earth is authorised to tell him so! Very obediently, Hariji got up, touched her feet once again, even as she scolded him for having come all the way to meet her.
On the return journey, we once again went back down memory lane and Hariji told me some amazing facts about Ustad Allauddin Khansaheb, the doyen of the Maihar Gharana and father to Guruma.
Once again, I felt blessed to have been in the presence of these 2 legends on Guru Purnima. I was overwhelmed and still am!
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