This is the continuation of my Book review of ’’Beyond Time - Ageless Music of Jagjit Singh’’
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Some interesting tidbits about Jagjitji:
He was born in Ganganagar & raised in Bikaner, Rajasthan [being a Bikaneri I was proud to know this] :))
His father was born a Hindu but at the age of 16 he converted to Sikhism.
He has a Post Graduate Degree in history & as per his father’s wish- Jagjitji was appearing for IAS exams, when he decided to call it quits & pursue a career in music.
During his struggle period in Mumbai, Jagjitji appeared in a movie Aman [Rajinder Kumar], in role of a Sardar Student. Besides this, he also sang in many film parties for famous stars like Rajinder Kumar, Balraj Sahani & Raj Kapoor. However, he didn’t get a break in playback singing as there were already established singers that time.
This is when he decided to crave his own niche & gave serious thought to ghazals. Soon he got a ’break’ to share an ghazal album with another newcomer. Jagjitji says ’’I had to change my look for the picture on this album because I was still in turban & beard & this would be the picture that would stay with me for the rest of my life. Hence, I decided to cut my hair’’
When she first heard his voice Chitra did not like it, called it ’’ugly’’. Even after singing some jingles with him, she did not like his voice coz it didn’t match her scale & she didn’t like his kind of deep voice. However, once they became friends & she fell in love with him, she moulded her voice to suit his. They performed together from 1969-1990. Chitra stopped singing and retired completely from singing after the sudden death of their only son, Vivek Singh in a car accident, on July 28, 1990.
Jagjitji Singh has a passion for horses & says being with horses is the ultimate relaxation for him.
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About the book :
The Pictorial Biography of the ghazal maestro of Jagjitji Singh is a collector’s item ! The concept of the book is by Pankaj Kodesia who says it is a must read, not only for millions of Jagjitji Singh’s fans but all those who love music & musicians’’
To read this book I borrowed it from my boss because the purchase price for this book - alongwith a set of 2 CDs comprising of Jagjitji’s favourite selection of ghazals & nazms, over the past 3 decades - is Rs. 2, 750 !
The book also lots of pictures from the personal collection of Jagjitji & Chitra Singh. For those [like me] who will not buy this book but are interested in seeing some exclusive pictures of Jagjitji [specially the ones where he is a sikh & in a photo where he is pretendg to comb Chitra’s hair], you can also check out these pictures on the website : https://habitatarts.com
I would like to end this review with the words by Jagjitji in the last chapter :
Sometimes I feel that time is running out & there’s so much more lest to be done.
At other times I feel, well, I’ve already dine too much, where’s the need to do more, that’s enough.
And then again you feel whatever you have done, you can do something better, let’s try for that.
Such mixed feeling keep going through my mind’’
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THANX for reading :)