Jagjit Singh – The man beyond words || Part – 1
As a child, I wasn’t quite well acquainted with Jagjit Singh. I only knew he was a great singer, and a ghazal specialist but then I couldn’t understand why, rather the thought never entered my mind. I had heard very few of his songs… few of them were ‘Woh kagaz ki kashti‘, ‘Woh khat ke purze uda raha tha….‘ and off course, the song from “Sarfarosh” – ‘Hosh waalon ko khabar kya…. ‘! Also, I remember listening to his soothing devotional songs like ‘Ram siya ram, siya ram jay jay ram‘ in Sai Baba’s temple!
But then as I grew up, I began to understand the magic hidden in this man’s voice. And when I tried to thoroughly understand him, it was too late. Today he is not present among us, and hence this effort to let you know who he was. I so much wanted to write about him and his songs, that one post was not enough. So finally decided to start off a series of few posts dedicated to Ghazaljit Singh (a friend calls him so… and he only introduced me to greatness of this man) which will bring him and his music closer to you. I may not be knowing him as good as some of you might know…but still… a sincere effort from my side.
I don’t really remember where did I read about Jagjit Singh‘s album “Desires“, but as soon as I got to know that this album is full of Jagjit and Chitra singh’s ghazals, I wasted no time in listening to all the songs in this album on a relaxed Saturday afternoon… and in true sense, I was on a journey to different world…full of vivid feelings put in front of me. I was trying to absorb them all, but couldn’t. Probably I wasn’t capable of. I felt like Jagjit ji was a very good guide in that world…showing me many shades of each and every feeling. I decided to take this journey a bit slow, unless I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it.
The greatness of Jagjit ji lies in his ability to treat each and every word according to its meaning. Whatever he sang in the song/ ghazal, he totally meant it. And this man was bestowed with an inherent “dard” in his voice. Simply outstanding. The first song I want to make you listen to is from the album “Desires” itself… “Sham – e – Mazar“. I have tried to explain meaning of some of the urdu words so that you can enjoy finding out and understanding the overall meaning.
Lyrics:
शम-इ-मजार थी, न कोई सोगवार था
तुम जिसपे रो रहे थे, वो किसका मजार था …
(sham – lamp with flame, mazar – a place to visit – typically refers to tomb of saint)
तडपूंगा उम्रभर दिल-इ-मरहम के लिए,
कम्भख्त नामुराद लड़कपन का यार था
जादू है या तिलिस्म तुम्हारी जुबान में,
तुम झूठ कह रहे थे, मुजहे ऐतबार था …
(tilism – magic)
क्या क्या हमारे सजदे की रुसवाईयाँ हुई,
नक़्शे कदम किसी का सरे रेह्गुजार था …
(Sajada – complete submission with devotion, ruswai – infamy, rah-gujar – a way/passage)
I hope you all enjoy this ghazal as much as I enjoy it, taking into consideration the meaning of each and every word in it. Super.
