A 200 year old royal palace renowned for its unique elegance and style reverberated with the voice of a 70 year old maestro, the ‘Ghazal King’ as the full moon night cast its magical spell. It was a breezy Sunday evening, February the 20th that Jagjit Singh, considered to be the most successful ghazal singer and composer of all time, and who has been awarded India's third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan performed at the Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad. The event titled “Journey of a Maestro” was to commemorate 50 years of his singing.
Ever since I was a teenager, I was drawn to the voice of Jagjit Singh when I first listened to his compositions for the TV serial Mirza Ghalib (based on the life of the poet Mirza Ghalib). The exclusive element of Ghalib's poetry was sensitively and wonderfully brought out in the soulful compositions of Ghalib's ghazals by Jagjit Singh. Besides his albums , I became literally smitten by his voice in Hindi films like Arth, Saath Saath, and Premgeet (all from 1980s) and Dushman, Sarfarosh, Tum Bin and Tarkeeb (mid 1990s and onwards). The surprise package was his Punjabi songs which were ebullient, effervescent, bubbly and joyous and evoked rapture.
So being such an avid listener of this great musician, it was my eternal desire to watch him perform live in concert. Though it was a long quest, it finally ended here at the majestic ambiance of the grand palace, one that made the evening different, memorable and indeed magical. This is the palace that was the seat of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty and was once regarded as the very centre of Hyderabad. This is the palace where the Nizams entertained their official guests and royal visitors.
As soon I entered the courtyard of the Palace, my eyes were immediately drawn to the Khilwat, the Grand Durbar Hall that was lit up in an ever changing milieu of colours. This served as a unique backdrop to the whole event and the fantastic evening that was poised to unfold. The sheer magnificence of the place was breath-taking. The Courtyard is a vast expanse of lush green lawns and picturesque water tanks and fountains. All the surrounding buildings that in their softly lit, muted beauty twinkled the night into a mirror of expectations.
In front of the haloed precincts of the Khilwat, against the backdrop of the vast expanse of undeniable monarchy, the stage for the musicians had been placed on a raised platform in front.
And as the singer, dressed in red satin kurta, commenced the musical sojourn with Tumney badle hamse gin gin ke liye, the gentle strains of music wafted through the air. The spray of fountains played with the colourful lights, the ambiance was just right for Kal choudivin ki raat thi which looked even more beautiful and surreal as he seamlessly moved on to another moon, terey agey chaand purana lagta hai, giving audiences the touch of his nuances. The world of ghazals and nazms is filled with love, longing, parting and ecstasy, and Jagjit Singh's voice evoked all those emotions as he sung Na koi dost hai na raqeeb hai, tera shehr kitna azeeb hai.
To lighten the proceedings, he even interspersed his songs with jokes and cracked three about marriage: In one, the man decides to celebrate the wedding anniversary with a 2-minute silence and in another an unmarried man is told by the priest that it is his good fortune that he is not married.
The audience jestingly crackled, clapped, chuckled, and swayed to his master’s voice and its magical possibilities. And I was ecstatic to experience this symphony draped in history, heritage and harmony. Songs like Tum Itna jo Muskara rahe ho , Tum Ko Dekha toh yeh Khyal Aya, Woh Kagaz ki Kashti , Na chithi na koi sandesh, brought about poignant memories of yesteryears when listening to his songs had the soothing effect on frayed nerves.
And that evening, watching him perform live, it was like a 2 hour odd tour of the soul, ethereal, conscientious and introspective. The musicians who played the instruments along with him gave a rare ‘jugalbandi’ towards the end which made the culmination of the event in a state of elated bliss. Truly, a majestic Rendezvous with the legend, a royal date with Maestro.
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