A grand celebration in the loving memory of Jagjit Singh on his77^th birthday was held on 8^th February at The Prestigious Turf Club, Worli hosting a wide array of people. The event was a star studded one where celebrities from different walks of life were there to enjoy an evening of music by the late Jagjitji. The evening was run through by Salim Arif and Brahmanand S Singh.

Chitra Singh unveiled the “Kaagaz Ki Kashti “ a classy and elegant pack consisting of “Kaagaz Ki  Kashti” a 2 hr. movie DVD , “An Excursion” a 3hr film extras DVD , “Master’s Magic” a 2.5hr Paris concert and “Lightness of Being” a coffee table book . The pack is meticulously designed on the cover is the water color painting made by Sameer Mandal a very famous artist. “I love and respect Jagjitji and this painting are like my contribution to this project and at the same time it’s my tribute to the great Jagjitji” said Mr.Mandal.

The occasion commenced by the projection of the movie “Kaagaz Ki Kashti” made by Brahmanand Singh, on the life and stirring events of Jagjit Singh. The clips that were shown consisted of small anecdotes of Jagjitji’s life and their impact on various people among them were Gulzaar, Pankaj Udhas, Mahesh Bhatt, Pandit Zakir Hussain, Subhash Ghai ,Jagjitji’s brother Kartar Singh, his wife Chitra Singh and many more personalities. A 25 minute segment of the movie was screened which depicted small clippings of his early life, journey to Mumbai, concerts and personal life.

The stunning movie clips was followed by film extras, later it was continued by reading of certain excerpts of the coffee table book by Harish Bhimani and Brahmanand Singh, who is also the author of the book. In the movie, Chitra Singh speaks about Jagjit Singh and their life together. She said, “We were two contrasting personalities, I was reserved and he was very open” she added. “He (Jagjit Singh) did not know how huge of a star he was”. This was concluded by cutting the cake for the 77^th birthday of Jagjitji by his wife Chitra Singh in his loving memory.

Many a fans of Jagjit Singh were present, among them was Dolly Thakore. Thakore stated, “I’ve known Jagjit since the 70’s , I do a lot of NGO work, he always came and sang for my NGO’s and never charged us anything, such a lovely person, a big giver”.

The musical segment of the night started with vocals from Dr. Anil Sharma and Vijayaa Shankar, followed by Sunita Buyan, one of the most talented violinists, who did a symphonic recreation of Jagjit Singh’s song on the violin. The last act of the night was a classic contemporary dance performance choreographed by Punita Hirani on some of the famous songs of Jagjitji.

“I’ve heard him, seen him, met him and it’s a once in a lifetime chance and I am blessed to have known him at such close quarters, we all love you wherever you are, you are the best, we are blessed to have met you and listen to you in this lifetime”, said Lubna Salim about the great singer.

The entire evening was a beautiful recreation of the Ghazal Sarjat amidst us, it was a reminder that Jagjit Singh single handedly made Ghazals popular all-round the country. He was an energetic soul and he will always be with us through the innumerable songs he had created that influenced many souls of our country and managed to leave music connoisseurs longing for more.

The highest praise comes from well known singer Anup Jalota who speaks eloquently of Jagit Singh,  "Jab Bhi Kalpana Karta Hoon Ki Bhagwan Ki Awaaz Kesi Hogi Toh Yahi Lagta Hai Ki Yakeenan Jagjit Singh Jaisi Hi Hogi".

By Mahima Jhavar