There are several phases to one's life. There is a phase that includes going through the daily chores as routinely as clockwork. Even the weekends have the same old itinerary to be followed. Then there are other days when you break the shackles of the mundane urban life to do something for yourself. Something that you'd always dreamt of. Something that was always etched deep into your soul. To live a moment that you'd never forget for as long as you live.
There are times when time stands still and the world that you live in doesn't seem to be all that important to you. You are in a surreal state of exaltation and are completely oblivious to everything around you. Experiencing that ecstasy is an experience in itself.
Music, they say, has tremendous abilities. Music can create storms, cause winds, light a fire, heal the wounded and soothe the battered. The sound of music is pristine. It is divine. It is unworldly.
It so happened that the Ghazal maestro Shri Jagjit Singh Ji chose to descend upon the City of Nawabs, Hyderabad and perform in a concert. It was probably my only chance of catching the master at work and thus it goes without saying that I had to make it to watch him in that rendition.
It is strange how the city that one lives in is also the city that one explores the least. Probably everyone has a comfort zone of their own which they are scared to come out of. I always knew about this palace in Hyderabad called the "Chowmahalla Palace" but had never bothered to pay a visit to the place. When I actually ended up going there, I realized that, that night was not going to be an ordinary one. The splendour and the magnificence of the palace is quite unmatched by anything else that I have seen with my bare eyes.
As if what I had seen was not enough, the two heavenly souls in flesh and blood finally descended in front of our eyes. Shri Jagjit Singh Ji and Gulzar Sahib are people who would be talked about by the generations to come. The feats that both of them have achieved are tough to even fathom, let alone conquer.
As the night wore on, my anxiety was getting the better of me. I had to know how it felt to be in the midst of so many people listening to someone so special perform. When Jagjit Ji began his "Alaap" and uttered the words of the first ghazal "कुछ ना कुछ तो ज़रूर होना है" he captured the audience's rapt attention and I realized that I was all alone in the sea of music and at the mercy of a master who kept me afloat with his voice. I realized that something unprecedented in my life was about to unfold in front of me and I could hardly control my pleasure and excitement. By the end of the ghazal, everyone knew that this night was something to be savoured. There was a quite hush all around and you could even hear a pin drop somewhere in the distance. We were left quite utterly..speechless.
The next ghazal was in a lighter vain. "तुमने बदले हमसे गिन गिन के लिए", taunts the lover for taking a revenge. The ghazal transformed midway into a qawwali and it just portrayed the amazing talent that everyone on that stage possessed. The five instruments that accompanied the soulful voice were the violin, the tabla, the dholak, the flute and the Electric guitar. The jugalbandi that ensued, like love, cannot be described in words, but can only be felt by a soul that is alive.
If "चिट्ठी ना कोई संदेस" reminded us of the penchant and gloomy days, "होशवालों को खबर क्या" took us into the realms of romaticism and the bliss of love. The emotional see-saw continued with the lows of "ये दौलत भी ले लो" begging the almighty for the depressed souls to be returned to the innocence of childhood, and the highs of "झूम के जब रिन्दों ने". It seemed that the choice of each and every song and the order in which it would be presented had a careful thought behind it. All of us were being conspired against by a handful of souls on the stage with divine talent. The wings of our thoughts were being cut off so that they couldn't fly.
"शाम से आँख में नमी सी है" touches your heart with the soulful lyrics and coerces you to shed a tear or two in the name of the one you love or the one you lost..Forever..
"हजारों ख्वाहिशें ऐसी" followed suit as if to clear our doubts of self proclaimed state of happiness. Every living soul is depressed because it has the power to dream. It's just that those who find a temporary happiness are the ones who have fulfilled one of their dreams.
"तुमको देखा तोह यह ख्याल आया" and "होठों से छु लो तुम" are two ghazals that have made Jagjit Ji immortal in the eyes of his fans and also in the those millions of music lovers all over the world. The songs too, are as evergreen as their singer's voice..They leave a deep sense of nostalgia in every heart that feels pain.
"पिया बिन सूना लागे" is not a ghazal per se. Jagjit Ji probably felt that he owed us something even more extraordinary than what he had already presented and so he obliged with the Thumri. Needless to say that we were left dumbfounded at the heights that one mortal soul could achieve in his lifetime.
"तेरी खुशबू में बसे ख़त" was again for the romantic souls who have ever faced a defeat in their love lives. To have loved and lost is the greatest human emotion that a person can feel. I know how it hurts, and I also know how it helps you change as an individual altogether. Love can never die..It stays on forever..and ever in one's heart.
All through the night, I had secretly wished that Jagjit Ji perform "सरकती जाए है रुख से नकाब" and when he chose to sing that song as the last of the day, I knew that God was listening to me that day..His attention was probably caught by the millions of wishes that might have been emanating from that glorious, larger than life palace. Maybe He too chose to descend from His heavenly abode to watch Jagjit Ji perform.
This post would truly be incomplete if I did not mention about the musicians that accompanied Jagjit Ji. All of them every simply marvellous and extraordinarily skilled. They had such an obvious and a strong relationship with their instruments that comes only with spending hours and hours of time practicing and investing sweat and blood. The jugalbandi stint at the very end of the concert was the perfect way to end the ceremonious occasion. If Jagjit Ji would have stopped mid way to end the magical show, I feel even the Almighty Himself, might have been left a little unpleased.
There are only a few things that you truly remember in your lifetime. That night most definitely is one such thing in my life. Time truly stood still on that magical night. The heavens must have bestowed their blessings on us for us to be so fortunate to have been a part of such an extravaganza. Thank you Lord Almighty for creating such a heaven on earth. Thank you for giving us Jagjit Singh !!
