It was early Feb '82 and it had been just a fortnight since yours truly was posted as a DivO at the NDA. I was on a dinner invite at the Kapoors - Pradeep and Anjana were known to have exquisite tastes.
During the course of the evening, as I listened to the wide range of their collection of music, Jagjit Singh's three ghazals viz. 'Kal chaudhavi ki raat thi', 'Der lagi hain aane mein tumko' and 'Saun da mahina yaaron' struck a deep chord within and I'd fallen for this genre of music instantaneously! By the end of the evening - a pretty late one at that, I remember - Anjana'd helped me memorise the first stanza of the second number which continues to be an all time favourite of mine and I quote,
"shafuq, dhanuq, mehtaab, ghataayein, taarein, nagme, bijlee, phool
us daaman mein kya kya kuch hai......kya, kya kuch hai........
woh daaman haath mein aaye toh................."
I was fascinated and got pulled into the magic world of ghazals!
Again, it was around that time, as I reckon, that Jagjit Singh's number in the Raj Babbar-Anita Raj starrer, 'Prem Geet' viz. 'hoton se choon lo tum....' had become extremely popular. The number, 'tum itna jo muskura rahi ho....' from Arth is another haunting number. I can go on and on but must hastily confess that my repertoire of his music is pretty limited. However, 'umra jalvon ke.......', 'patta patta boota boota haal hamaara jaane hai.....' are a couple of others that come readily to mind.
Jagjit Singh had carved a niche for himself in the world of music through his inimitable style of rendition. Despite grave personal tragedy, he continued to perform and regale his audiences. He'd, I believe, planned to perform in 70 concerts to commemorate his 70th birthday but alas, could complete only 46 of them when death had come calling.
My humble tribute to the music maestro and prayers for peace in his eternal life!
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