When the throat chokes up and the eyes stream down with tears, you know it’s a moment to deliberate. Music was the passage to a higher conscience for late singer Jagjit Singh, but the emotions he evokes in musicians even today, long after his demise, is a testimony to his illustrious trajectory. So when the time came to pay tribute to the legend, one of India’s ace composers, Shekhar Ravjiani, seized the opportunity to honour the ghazal king with an evening of music called Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi.
The programme comes as a commemoration of the 30 year anniversary of Salaam Baalak Trust, an NGO working with street children. Along with Ravjiani, it also presents instrumentalist Deepak Pandit. The concert first premiered at the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore in 2016, followed by travelling to Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Dubai and the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Now it’s arrived in Delhi with a milestone event to give life to an immortal musician. “Jagjit Singhji lives on through his every song. There has never been another singer like him who can bring out a million emotions in a listener through a single note. My tribute is an attempt to make the new generation fall in love with ghazals,” says Ravjiani, who along with Pandit, will be bringing little-improvised touches to his classics.
Riding high on the 30-year success, the Trust looks at this as an opportunity to raise funds for further humanitarian progress.“Without the generosity of thousands of well-wishers and donors over the decades, we’ve reached to this point. And while we look back on our journey with immense satisfaction, we recognise that much remains to be done. We hope this event will help generate awareness and funds to continue our work with children. As they say, ‘it takes a big heart to shape a little mind’. We call on the many big hearts in our world to join us on our onward journey,” says Tanya Alag, Head, Resource Mobilization. Here’s to a better future, through the music of hope.
