Music Ends Exile

The album titled,The Master and His Magic, will be available in stores as well as digital platforms on Jagjit’s first death anniversary — October 10,2012. This marks an interesting journey for some compositions of the maestro,which hitherto existed in oblivion. “A few months ago,Sanjiv Tayal,an Ahmedabad-based businessman,gave me a collection of Jagjitji’s unreleased songs from various live performances across India. Being an ardent fan of Jagjitji,he had collected them over the years,” recalls Chitra.

She talks passionately about the music of her husband — who she once accompanied on stage and recording rooms as a singer and co-composer — to popularise ghazal in India and make it commercially viable. Her high-pitched voice was considered to be the perfect complement to his rich,velvet voice till 1990,when she quit singing after they lost their son in an accident. Dressed in a multi-coloured churidar-kurta and rust dupatta ,she appears elegant — far from the forlorn look at Jagjit’s funeral. And her voice gives away her admiration and awe for her husband,who she considers to be her “friend,guide and guru”.

This collection — featuring some of India’s greatest lyricists Wasim Bareilvi,Farag Roohvi and Mirza Ghalib — was a revelation to her as she was not aware of most of these compositions. “Jagjitji was a prolific composer. He was a voracious reader of Urdu poetry and handpicked those poems which encompassed beautiful lyrics and deeper meaning. He composed music for them and often presented them at live concerts.” In most cases,the ones which struck a chord with the audience were later recorded.

Of Tayal’s collection,Chitra has chosen those tracks which have similar tonal quality and voice. “These recordings are from different periods. As his voice matured with time,I did not want a great variation in the tonal quality,” she says. Since all of them were live recordings,they had to be digitally re-mastered while unnecessary sounds were weeded out. This initiative is something,Chitra believes she owes to his fans. Still,there are many more of his compositions which are yet to be released. That apart,there are several early recordings of his music,currently unavailable in the market. She wants to make these accessible to music lovers in due course of time.

However,the project that perhaps tops her wishlist is to form a foundation in Jagjit’s name. Apart from preserving his memorabilia and music,the prime objective of the foundation will be to educate and take care of children. “Jagjitji loved children. I would like to take nearly 20 children under the foundation’s care. But,everything depends on getting government grant for which we have applied,” she says.