By Tejinder Singh Bedi
Conceptualized by the global JagjitSinghFanClub, (JJSFC), a super active singers club of the great maestro this year is recreating some of the best devotional numbers sung by the great legend on his 14th death anniversary falling on Oct 10, like previous years on the legend's every birth as well as death anniversaries though with varying themes since 2012. The themes in the past have been his solos, duets, sad, romantic, suroor songs, nazams and bhajans this year. The celebrations commencing the birth and departure dates last for almost a month every year with each passionate singer getting an opportunity to sing at least one number dedicated to the original creators.
The meet this year is witnessing participation of Jagjit's fans from as far as Dallas, (Texas), Dhanbad, Bangalore, Indore, Dehradun, Parwanoo, Chandigarh, Ambala, Panipat besides those from the NCR's & Chandigarh's satellite towns and has been impeccably planned by the core team of Ashish Vyas, Dr. Chandar Shekhar Pai just as so endearingly anchored by Chandigarh's rising anchor cum singer Shilu Anand for a brilliant script by Sudhanshu Pathak.
Says the lead organizer Ashish Vyas, 'For this year, the theme for celebrating the legend's legacy has been kept aligned to devotional songs considering the ongoing season of religious festivities and virtual recreations of some of Jagjit Sahib's most popular bhajans are being sung by 35 participants.' Adds Tejinder Singh Bedi, a lifelong fan and follower of the legend that he finds this as the best ever group of hard-core fans of the great legend as each of its 75 members try their best to keep rehearsing and singing by now most of the ghazals, nazams, geets, bhajans and folk numbers sung by their iconic Guru as the only way to preserve his musical legacy for the coming generations!
Jagjit Singh fans joining in for offering virtual tributes from all across the globe on Jagjit Singh's 14th death anniversary falling on Oct 10 have also once again reiterated their off repeated demand that the inimitable legend be conferred with the nation's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna this year. Most of his lifelong fans feel that not only all of them among the legend's regular listeners, even our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and most of his cabinet colleagues too are die hard fans of Jagjit Singh's music and just need to be reminded time and again to address this long pending request of his fans now. There is no doubt that if there is any single musician from India who has made the world aware of Indian semi classical music with emotional value, it has been Jagjit Singh only who has kept mesmerizing millions weaving magic with his divinely blessed voice and compositions all his life. And beyond that the only artiste who made the world population aware that film music was not the only kind that India has to offer.
