The Dewarists Ringtones

I am very very impressed with The Dewarists from what I have seen in the first three episodes. Brilliant concept, brilliant execution. I have had a couple of friends asking me where they can get ringtones of the collaboration tracks, so I have put together a few edited sections that can be downloaded and used as mp3 ringtones. The full mp3 tracks themselves are available for free download on the website of the Dewarists, and the episodes can also be watched (in HD) on their YouTube channel.

Ringtones
The Dewarists Theme Music
Minds Without Fear 1
Minds Without Fear 2
Maaya 1
Maaya 2
Maaya 3

My original compositions

Thank you for the memories

Although he was twice my age when he passed away, Jagjit Singh always felt like a friend, a contemporary. 

My first memory of listening to his ghazals goes all the way back to 1982, when I was still a small child and we were living in Agra. The cassette player in our house was almost always busy dishing out ghazals from Munni Begum, Mehdi Hassan and Jagjit Singh-Chitra Singh. Of course, I had no inkling of what the ghazals were trying to say, but, unknown to me, my musical sensibility was taking a shape of its own. 

Music and fragrances have a way of transporting one back to the past, to the time when one experienced them first. The first album of Jagjit Singh-Chitra Singh that my parents bought and that used to play the most in my house was A Milestone (YouTube version here), and it remains my favourite album of his. It still takes me back to my childhood and I still have that cassette, although it's more of a collector's item now than anything else.

Another personal favourite is Passions (1988), which, like The Milestone, is a Jagjit-Chitra album. Every single song in this album is a gem, and I mean every single song. (YouTube version here)

The last album that both Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh sang in together was Someone Somewhere (1990). That year, their son Vivek died in a road accident and Chitra stopped singing after this album. 

For those just starting to discover Jagjit Singh in some depth, I would highly recommend the three albums mentioned above as well as The Unforgettables(their first album, released in 1976), Mirza Ghalib and Marasim (YouTube version of Marasim here). With Qatil Shifai, Sudarshan Faakir, Mirza Ghalib and Gulzar amongst the poets, these ghazals are nothing short of a crash course in high quality Urdu poetry.

I am fortunate to have seen Jagjit Singh thrice in concert - the first time in IIT Bombay in 2000, then at the Sydney Opera House in 2005, and the last time on June 18, 2011, when he performed at Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Bangalore. For some reason, me and my wife were discussing at the last concert that since he is growing older and might stop touring soon, this could be the last time we were watching him live, and when we heard of his illness and then passing away, that was the first thing we were reminded of.

What makes Jagjit Singh special? To me, it was what made Kishore Kumar special. Both of them sang in an unpretentious manner, so much so that one remembered the song or the ghazal for the way it made one feel rather than for the singer's outstanding rendition. Both of them did not go overboard with melodic improvisations and variations. They did not try hard to impress. They kept their singing clean and simple without being overtly simplistic.

One thing that a lot of people forget to give credit to Jagjit Singh is that he was not only a great singer, but a terrific composer and stage performer as well. He composed his own non-film ghazals, and his humble musical arrangements brought to the fore the power of the melody in his ghazals. In all his stage shows that I was a witness to, the one common factor I never failed to observe was the magical effect he had over the audience. I saw people laughing, cheering, clapping, weeping, sobbing - like little children, unashamedly. Having been on the receiving end of many of life's whims, I think he was effortlessly able to bring out some of that pain and emotion in his music and singing. At the same time, his shows were full of jokes and anecdotes that linked beautifully with the ghazals he was singing. Contrary to popular belief, his ghazals convey a vast array of emotions, ranging from happiness to romance to irony to hope, all the way down to the sorrow and pain he is generally more famous for.

I will miss Jagjit Singh. And for very selfish reasons. He was like a confidant, always around, singing songs about life, love, loss and pain - everyday emotions that all of us, except maybe the emotionally challenged, encounter and relate to. There is a Jagjit Singh ghazal playing in the background everytime I look back at my past. Jagjit Singh's silken voice had become the OST of my life.

He has now moved on to a better place, and although I feel a little heavy, I am happy that he is in peace, reunited with his son, and we still have his ghazals with us to make life a little more bearable.

Rest in peace, my friend, and thank you for the memories.