Soul of ghazal, Jagjit Singh passes away, nation mourns

He sang his way into the hearts of millions and broke several stereotypes along his ways. Ghazal legend Jagjit Singh, who mesmerised music lovers for over four-decades with his soul-stirring numbers like 'Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho' and 'Jhuki jhuki si nazar', breathed his last on Monday morning after struggling with brain haemorrhage for almost 17 days. He is survived by his wife Chitra Singh.

Jagjit Singh was admitted to Lilavati Hospital on September 23. He was suffering from hypertension, diabetes mellitus and ischaemic heart disease.

With his silky soft voice, Jagjit created a huge fan following across the world and in all age groups. He has left behind a huge body of work in a career spanning five decades, including 80 albums. As soon as the news of his death broke, celebrities, singers and fans rushed to the hospital to pay tribute to the legend.

“Chitraji is waiting for Jagjitji’s relatives to arrive. His two brothers and two sisters have already reached Mumbai. He will be cremated on Tuesday at 12 in Chandanwadi electric crematorium. We are undecided yet from where to start his last journey. Till now his body is in hospital only,” Jagjit’s spokesperson Preetam Sharma said.

His grieving wife Chitra didn’t speak to media. According to sources, both were living separately for the past few years.
“We shared many ups and downs in the life together. He had great spiritual power, otherwise it’s not easy to comeback from huge personal loss, when he lost his young son. He was an institution of ghazal singing. He was my friend, so its big loss for me. He has sung a song.. 'Maa tujhe salam' in my film Khalnayank.  The song will always be my favourite,” says film producer Subhash Ghai.

Singer Roop Kumar Rathod says, “He was baadshah and shahanshah of the ghazal industry. He was a very good person. I met him on his 70th birthday and we sang few songs together. The memory of that evening will always be with me. He was kalakaron ka kalakaar. He introduced santoor in ghazal which was a wonderful experiment.”

Noted lyricist Javed Akhtar says, “Our association goes back to 1980-81 when we did 2 albums together. Just one day before the attack, he spoke to me and asked to work together again by next birthday. Singing and continuing success for so many decades is just amazing and only he could do it that too with non-filmy songs. Today, I can recall his song..'Baat nikalegi to dur talak jayegi'…he has left us to go so far.”

Shabana Azami sayd, “Kala ko kisi ki nazar lag gayi hai. We are losing artists one by one. It’s a huge loss not only to the music world or country but to the whole world. He sang in my film
Arth-'Tum itna jo muskura rahi ho' or 'jhuki jhuki si nazar bekarar hai ki nahi'..Unforgettable indeed. He sang with heart and thus made every song so meaningful.”

Big Jagjit fan and software engineer Soumil Mehta from Navi Mumbai came to Lilavati Hospital by taking a off on Monday. “He might be 70 but his voice was able to stole the souls of all youngsters. I never missed his single concert and every time 50% audience was youth only.”

His fan and joint commissioner of income tax, Paramjeet Singh, paid his tribute differently, “God, you called Steve Jobs because you wanted an iPod and now you want ghazals in it!”