Raat Bhi Neend Bhi Originally sung by Chitra Singh, Composer: Jagjit Singh, Lyrics: Firaq Gorakhpuri

The tragedy of Indian music fraternity is that by and large it does not give sufficient credit or respect to the lyricists/poets/shayars who write the words the music composers use in their compositions and singers sing. The creators whose words which bring tears, joy, inspiration, and plethora of other emotions are largely ignored. That’s such a pity. Yes, there have been a few exceptions like Gulzar or perhaps one or two more. I have my theory why they became popular, but I will save it for another day.
The side effect of this tragedy is that DJs, announcers, MCs, radio/TV hosts will either forget to announce or even when they do announce their names, it will be the last thing they say before the actual composition (song, ghazal, etc..) is played. I challenge you to ask your music singing friend to name a few things about the song after they sing something at your party. Ask them to name the singer and of course they will rattle that off quickly; Composer name perhaps; Lyricists name - only if you are lucky. That is the injustice that the creative writers have suffered and continue to suffer. I am sure that impacts their ability to make a living off their creative efforts while singers and composers make a lot more money and get much more credit. Sad!! Yes, creativity is not all about money but it’s a matter of justice and is a result of much of the ignorance of the masses.
I try to do my part by always studying as many details as possible about the Poetry or Ghazal before I attempt it. Along with the meaning, I try to know the details about the writer. Sometimes, I even google and attempt to know about their life story.
Here is one such ghazal that I recently studied and attempted. This ghazal was originally sung by Chitra Singh in her unique voice and what a voice!! Note the ghazal that was sung only has three ash’aar (plural of she’r or couplets) but the original written ghazal has several. I highly encourage you to study the entire ghazal written by Firaq Gorakhpuri. Here is the link.
www.rekhta.org...
Please check it out.
#ghazals #chitrasingh #jagjitsinghghazals #rekhta #bollywood