Eighty-nine years of voyage ,everyday I have progressed ,everyday I cultured myself and I am still learning:Pandit Jasraj

AN OBITUARY ON PANDIT JASRAJ 

By Irfan Jami

Born in 1930 in Hisar , Haryana, the legendary classical singer Pandit Jasraj was introduced to vocal music by his father Pt. Motiram at an age when he couldn’t utter even a full sentence correctly. Pandit Jasraj was popularly called SANGEET MARTAND . This title is believed to have been derived from a film , his wife Madhura {the daughter of filmmaker V.shantaram } made. While the title ‘’ KALAVATI ‘’ was bestowed upon him by the Harvard University .

 When Jasraj was only 4 yrs old , his family of Classical musicians moved to Hyderabad as a result of his father pandit Motiram’s untimely death. In Hyderabad , kid jasraj was taught the basics of tabla and successively trained as a tabla accompanist by his brother Pandit Pratap Narayen {The Father of the composer duo Jatin-Lalit }. At the age of 14 he started getting trained as a vocalist after renouncing tabla and would accompany his elder brother , an eminent vocalist Maniram, to concerts. Jasraj’s renouncement of tabla was triggered by pandit Amarnath Chawla’s comment ‘’ only pounded dead Leather ‘’ meant to question a young jasraj’s knowledge of music. He never touched tabla after that instead he devoted his entire energy on mastering the Raagdari that chawla had questioned him about . After having initially trained as a classical vocalist by pandit Maniram , Jasraj learned singing from Jaiwant Singh Waghela, {a vocalist and bīnkār } Gulam Qadir Khan of Mewati gharana followed by Swami Vallabhdas Damulji of the Agra gharana. His rigorous Reyaz sessions , where he kept improving himself , finally resulted into his acceptance as a radio Artiste.  Pandit Jasraj belonged to Mewati gharana ,a school of hindustani classical music known for it’s traditional khayal performances which has been a serious art of singing. However Pandit Jasraj brought in fundamental components of thumri to khayal singing and sang with flexibility, making the khayal singing more audience-friendly. Ustad Amir khan of the Bhendi Bazaar

Gharana had left an indelible impression on Pandit jasraj at a time when the gharana system was very inflexible. Under the influence of Ustad Amir khan, Pandit Jasraj, even at the cost of facing criticism from various quarters, assimilated essential ingredients from other gharanas into his music and ended up creating classic compositions resulting in 300 bandish apart from various compositions of ancient Sanskrit verses. Pandit Jasraj even brought bhajan singing into the world of classical music.Om Namo Bhagvate Vasudevaya and hanuman lalla were Pandit Jasraj’s most popular bhajans . … Pandit Jasraj was never in favor of eliticism associated with classical music . He rejected the idea to make the classical music more accessible to masses. ‘’ it’s for everyone ‘’ he would often say . One of Jasraj’s remarkable contribution was Jasrangi, a duet form of classical music, in which a male and a female vocalist interweave two different ragas; and brought haveli sangeet, an ancient devotional form of music, to the stage

In the annals of Hindustani Classical Music history, Pandit Jasraj, one of the most acclaimed veteran of the Mewati Gharana, will always be remembered as the unforgettable voice of the divine truth. In the year 1965 , when India and Pakistan were trying to bleed each other with thousand cuts, a human with a divine touch was trying to stitch the truth between Allah and Lord Shiva. The result turned out to be ‘’ Mero Allah Meherban {My Allah is kind }’’, a musical composition in Rag Bhairav , the morning raga known to have been created by shiva . Mero Allah Meharbaan left an entrancing effect on the people from both sides of the border .A few years later ,when Pandit Jasraj sang Mero Allah Meherbaan with the word Om while describing the word Allah at a concert in Pakistan, he got lost into trance. This magic of divinity was witnessed by the packed hall where everyone was on its feet in reverence….

With a career spanning 80 years, Pandit Jasraj’s body of work ranged from the global stage to Indian film music. Director Ang Lee’s global hit of 2012, “Life Of Pi” had used Pandit Jasraj’s rendition of ‘’ ’Raga Ahir Bhairav’’ . he also sang the song “Vandana karo” in the film “Ladki Sahyadri Ki” released in the year 1966 . Pandit Jasraj’s Jugalbandi with Bhimsen Joshi in the 1973 film, “Birbal My Brother”, and “Vaada tumse hai” in the 2008 horror film, “1920” will always be remembered as his precious contributions.

Despite his accomplishments, the legendary classical vocalist and Padma Vibhushan recipient Pandit Jasraj never put on airs.

‘’ Eighty-nine years of harmonious voyage ,everyday I have progressed ,everyday I cultured myself and I am still learning’’ said Pandit Jasraj .

He was honored with several prestigious awards, including the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor in 2000, Padma Bhushan in 1990 and Padma Shri in 1975 .

Kathmandu deserves a special mention in the life of one of the most illustrious doyens of the Mewati Gharana who performed his FIRST STAGE CONCERT as a vocalist in the court of King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal in Kathmandu in the year 1952.

‘Jai ho’ , the two words Pandit Jasraj would often open and close all conversations with. Hence ‘’ Jai ho ‘’ to the music magician whose priceless voice challenged age and roamed all the octaves effortlessly.

Irfan Jami is a Filmmaker Creative Director with Mountain River Films 

irfanjaami@gmail.com