"I love Jagjit
Singh's gazals". Each time I'd hear this, my auto-correct brain software
would go on rectifying mode- "Sorry, he is just a singer and the gazals you are appreciating are written by some other poets".
People don't even
realize the geniuses behind such masterpieces. And the front office gets all
the credit.
Anyone
can sing but not everyone can write. I thought so until I saw the catastrophe that Sona
Mohapatra has created. I eat back my words that "anyone can sing".
Dear Anyones, please don't sing!
I had been looking for
"original " version of 'Tere
Ishq nachaya' and came across this one, sung by Abida Parveen.
What an ecstasy to
discover the masterpiece in original format minus the glamor minus HD cinematography
minus gaudy clothes and colorful geographical locations.
While listening to this, I almost lifted my arms and started to dance in ecstasy. It actually makes you dance! So divinely!
It softly, very tenderly percolates inside the deepest and most sensitive part of your heart and soothes it.
A song of love- that evokes true love, truly.
Love which is not just limited to your lover but so humanly in nature that you makes you stop limiting it to a relation. Platonic love, may be.
Like, Love for God, or gratitude, or respect, or love for something greater than just attached to an existence, something that you feel beyond time and words and experience.
May be for your mother, or someone who just guided you when you were lost or someone who just helped you see another part of yourself. Expressing the uncommunicative..
If you understand even
a bit of Punjabi (even if u don't, there are subtitles) I suggest you can enjoy
this piece of sheer genius.
Sometimes a particular
language is able to portray an emotion in much better way than others. For
example, pain/ betrayal is at best in Urdu. Similarly, I feel, probably dedication
can best be explained in Punjabi. Punjabi has been brushed up for this…thanks
to Guru Granth Sahib and other Sufi poets.
Coming back to singers. I feel they have a very important role than just orating the words musically.
A Singer-
1. Draws your attention to unfolding a deeper section of the art.
2. Simplifies the
complexities that could be beyond the reach of audience (but not change meanings). Like
sometimes Jagjit would translate complex urdu words in gazals so that the listeners can enjoy it "actually".
3. Brings to life the masterpieces and presents before general public to enjoy which otherwise would hv been locked (read lost) in the History libraries.
4. Keeps the
legends (poets/writers) and their craftsmanship alive that otherwise would have been lost in the contemporary music
(read commercial) where people "watch" music than "listen".
Listen to this song and you’ll realize why these devotees dance at the ISKCON temples. You'll realize why "love" is the default subject in literature. Could devotion be explained any better than this?
P.S. You do realize that I had valid reasons to be mad at Sona. You do, right?
The previous and this blog brings to mind a comment passed by Dilip Kumar about Lata Mangeshkar, during her formative years:
ReplyDeleteOnce Lata Mangeshkar, was travelling in a local train accompanied by music director Anil Biswas. At Bandra, actor Dilip Kumar got into the same compartment. Since Dilip Kumar knew Biswas, he greeted him. Anil da introduced Lata to him as 'a new singer having a very good voice and holding a great future.'
Dilip Kumar, who was in a jovial mood, took a closer look at the shy Lata Mangeshkar, and asked, 'You're a Maharashtrian, aren't you? Take care not to allow your dal-bhaat accent to seep into our Urdu!' [Probably Dilip Kumar had said “dal-bhat ki boo”]
But Lata Mangeshkar being the true professional hired a Maulvi to teach her the finer nuances of Urdu language.