Dil Mein Ab Dard-e-Muhabbat Ke Siwa

ए खुदा मुझसे  न ले मेरे गुनाहों का हिसाब,

मेरे पास अश्क़ - ए - नदामत के  सिवा  कुछ भी नहीं।

O God, do not make me account for my sins,

I have nothing else but tears of regret (to pay for them).

This Sahir Bhopali "ghazal" has been on my mind all through the day. This is originally sung by Lata Ji, in the epic album "Sajda". And now we have a version of this by JS, in "The Master And His Magic". 

This ghazal is composed at a very high scale (by JS standards) and I never expected JS to match the scale (as in "Sajda") in the one rendered in "TMAHM". But what a rendition it is! Absolutely precious! JS could spring so many surprises in his concerts. At some places where he drags the "radeef" together with the "qafiyaa" (as in "केसिवाकुछभीनहीं"), it sounds so beautiful. The violin played by Deepak Pandit is mesmerizing too.

To end, a few more from the ghazal:

दिल में अब दर्द-ए -मुहब्बत  के सिवा कुछ भी नहीं,

ज़िन्दगी मेरी इबादत के सिवा कुछ भी नहीं।

मैं तेरी बार गह-ए -नाज़ में क्या  पेश करूं,

मेरी झोली में मुहब्बत के सिवा कुछ भी नहीं।

A 15 syllable "ghazal", in the "beher": "ramal musamman makhbuun mahzuuf" [Pattern: 2122-1122-1122-(11)22].

The Master and His Magic - Aahon mein hai asar

The "Aaho"s of thousands of JS fans definitely has had a huge "Asar".  Sanjay Tayal shared some  rare unreleased performances of the master with Chitra Ji. Chitra Ji promptly agreed to getting them released as an album, on 10th October this year. ("The Master and His Magic", Jagjit Singh, Sony Music, India)

There was the usual and the un-usual excitement in the vast community of the master's fan, with regards to the album. Usual excitement regarding the launch, the tracks, the concerts in which they were performed, the poets and so on. What was unusual was no one seemed to miss the master! It is as if he is with us all the time. As is mentioned in the accompanying booklet in the album, one year has passed, but somehow the fans seem to be consciously unaware of the master's absence.

The tracks are wonderfully sung. The poetry selection is masterful too! Waseem Barelvi's "Tu Ambar ki Aankh" is mind blowing in poetry. I will have more on the tracks in a later post. There are 9 tracks, including "Dil mein ab dard-e-muhabbat ke siwa". Without any disrespect to Lata Ji, one can say that JS always infused life into a composition of his own when he sang it.

Finally the "catchy" ghazal of the album,

आहों में है असर मगर  फ़र्क़ असर असर में है,
चैन से सो रहे हैं वो, दर्द यहाँ जिगर में है.

दिल को मेरे ले गया उसकी तलाश क्या करूँ,
जिसने चुराया दिल मेरा वो तो मेरी नज़र में है.

वो ही है रात वस्ल की वो ही है रात हिज्र की,
आए ही गी सहर मगर फ़र्क़ सहर सहर में है.

मस्ती तेरे शराब की जैसे हो मय गुलाब की,
साँसों में ऐसी ख़ुशबू है जैसे हिना अतर में है.

On Smashits, Low Quality

The poet is unknown. Beher of the 16 syllable ghazal is:  rajaz musamman matvii makhbuun [Pattern: 2112-1212-2112-1212] - [muf-ta-i-lun][ma-faa-i-lun][muf-ta-i-lun][ma-faa-i-lun]

This is of course following the same beher same tune rule, as in "Aapko bhol jaayen hum" and "Os pade bahar par" but the tempo is much faster in this one.

Aahon mein hai asar magar

I did not weep or cry about an year ago, when JS passed away. No, I knew his music is so powerful that his physical absence would not have mattered to me much. One year has since passed, and there seems to be no such void.

Chitra Ji's gracious gift to the entire fan community of the master is an effort to applaud. I have the same excitement level, as I had during those days, when maestros' album would be released and I would wait for it to be available on stores. Even a small bit of information, a small clip, would excite me and think about how the ghazal or the nazm would turn out to be.

I am having the same feeling today. The tracks are wonderful!!!

More analysis later on.