The soulful voice

By: Poonam Deviah His voice has the depth and the pain that just cuts across the heart and leaves a lasting impression. It is then no wonder that he is called the 'King of Ghazals.' Jagjit Singh today is the undisputed and most popular of Indian Ghazal singers. His was a relentless struggle with a lot of ups and downs. Born in Rajasthan on the 8th of February1941, he did his schooling from Khalsa High School, SriGanganagar. He passed his Inter in Science stream from Government College, Sri Ganganagar. He graduated in the Arts stream from DAV College, Jalandhar. He also acquired a Post Graduate Degree in history from Kurukshetra University, Haryana. He first learnt music under Pandit Chaganlal Sharma for two years in Sri Ganganagar. After which for another six years he trained under Ustad Jamaal Khan of Sainia Gharana, under whom he learnt all forms of Indian ClassicalMusic - Khayal, Thumri and Drupad. Ghazal is a form of Light Indian Classical music. They churn up a whole lot of emotions and is capable of tapping every sentiment with poise and grace. It is this art that Jagjit Singh mastered and specialized in. In 1965 he made his way to the city of dreams, 'Mumbai,' to realize his dreams and give the world a voice that would leave its mark for generations to come. He saw success after a long and hard struggle. He is a standing example for a fighter who shows us that success never comes easy and hard work never fails. He came in as a struggler and after the struggle, had India swooning to his voice. People only wanted more from him. His became the 'unforgettable voice.' Love happened to him during his struggling days. He met and fell in love with Chitra, (his wife now) another struggling singer from Bengal in 1965. Music brought them together. Jagjit started accompanying Chitra on her rounds to music directors, as both of them were strugglers in Mumbai. Both of them used to sing jingles for advertisements. Ghazals further brought them together. He gives the credit of him being a musician to Chitra. Jagjit and Chitra tied the knot in 1969, after which they started giving Ghazal performances together. The Jagjit-Chitra pair soon caught on. Jagjit Singh however brought out his first album, 'The Unforgettables in 1976. After this he brought out a good number of albums, some of which are Marasim, Echoes, Mirage and Insight. His repertoire includes the writings of Ghalib, Qateel Shifai, Sudarshan Fakeer and Nida Fazli. The duo brought out some memorable albums. However the sudden death of their only son, Vivek Singh, brought an end to Chitra's singing career. She hasn't sung since. 'Someone Somewhere' was the last album of Jagjit and Chitra together. Jagjit Singh has also played an active part in shaping the careers of Talat Aziz and Vinod Sehgal. He is always active in philanthropic activities like the Library at St.Mary's, Bombay Hospital, CRY, and ALMA, an organization whose focus is to adopt students for further education and development. He has also won several awards including the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1998 for popularising Ghalib. The Madhya Pradesh government honoured him with the Lata Mangeshkar Samman in 1998.