Shrimati Jasbir kaur bagga ji (classical singer, composer, writer, dance choreographer & musician) & My Mother as well.
Mrs. Jasbir Kaur, Lecturer(Music) In DAV institute jallandhar
Gharana (Family) history-
My maternal grandparent’s ancestors were classical gurmat sangeet jattha (gurmat classical) gharana in Anandpur saab ji. A long family history of freedom fighters & classical kirtan singers in traditional gurmat styles which are perhaps lots with the times and changing singing styles. Also, sometimes due to circumstances.
My mother’s grandfather & nanaji were Freedom fighters, classical singers & writers. They had the most traditional classical singing style with saarangi.
The even previous history tells that our maternal ancestor family, the great grand fathers and fore fathers use to sing classical kitran in big gurdawaras like anandpur sahib ji.
Gyani Himmat singh ramta ji (mother’s dada ji)-
Gyani Himmat Singh Ramta ji was a punjabi poet, freedom fighter, Fought & Won jaiton morcha and the jaiton fort. In 1927 at takh shri keshgarh sahib he became the (Head granthi) of our religions Takht. He wrote many vaaran and prasang on (Tadhi jatthas).
Vaaran- is a unique form of singing style usually sung in very high notes. This form of gayaqi (singing style) was sung to tell war stories of great warriors and our respected guru’s. Many of the war stories & vaaran which are sung today in gurudwara’s are written by our ancestors.
As he was a freedom fighter and great Singh warrior he wrote a book (bhatat singh di phasi), he was sent to imprisonment for that.
Amandeep Singh Sodhi pays regards to them.
Gyani khushhaal singh hira (mother’s nana ji)-
Was also a great classical kirtani. He Won jaiton morcha with Gyani himmat Singh Ramta ji.
Gyani hazara singh ji- did great work in classical & semi classical keertan and went to UK, Canada with there jattha (group) to do kirtan and they’ve taught many of young kirtani’s of today in abroad.
The old history and documents tells that guru gobind Singh ji’s book (Bachitar naatak) was fragmented and many pages were with a group of Nihang Singh’s, some pages were lost & a part of the book was preserved by our maternal family. I tried searching but no one knows where the pages are lost. Some of the kirtanis are still living in village jandu singha, Hosiyarpur.
Due to time and war circumstances in Punjab the great kirtani gharana was lost in time but the great words of gubani will never die.
Classical Musical Learning-
Shrimati jasbir kaur bagga ji learnt Indian classical music starting from gurmat sangeet from Gyani kartar singh parwana ji (A great classical keertan singer & delhi radio personality)
She did sangeet Visharad, Sangeet bhaskar & sangeet alankar. Also, did sangeet bhaskar in sitar. Later on she purely dedicated herself to classical, semi classical music as a singer, writer & composer.
She has learnt classical khayaal gayaqi, classical & semi classical composition from great guru of Indore gharana Shri M K Bhardwaj ji. Shri M K bhardwaj ji have given music in lots of Haryanvi movies. His specialty is his deep throat singing style & khayal gayaqi.
We found guru ji again in Faridabad after 8 years.
My Regards to such Guru shishya (Master – disciple) relation.
Shri Har Niranjan Singh ji-
My nana ji (maternal grandfather) was also a very good kirtani & very good violinist. Later he joined the army and lived life with lots of struggles. He was determined to settle in Faridabad with his family, so that he can bring up his children.
Some of the content of my article has been taken from his autobiography.
Regards to my nana ji (Maternal grandfather) as well.
Work and achievements in music-
She has been working in DAV institute since 1978 as a classical music trainer & later transferred to DMS jalandhar and still working there as a classical-semi classical music trainer.
She prepared lots of classical-semi classical dances, raags, bhajans, songs, group songs, instrumental direction, and dance drama direction for youth festivals.
Directed and prepared many TV, Radio & Stage programs. Her dance dramas are always with great musical background & with a teaching and a cause in it.
Some of them are very popular in DAV institutes:
1. Abhilasha (to promote education in remote areas)
2. Moortikaar ka sapna (to enlighten India on social issues)
3. Pariyon ka jahan (imagination of war free and peace loving paradise of a child)
4. Saaksharta ahiyaan (Dance drama on social stigmas of india, especially women empowerment).
There are many more solo classical, semi-classical, light performances that she has directed and prepared. Many of her unwritten stuff will be written later when she releases her own book.
Some unwritten creations of my mother like ‘Neelima’ have never been published, again based upon women’s life and women empowerment.
Shri Paramjit Singh ji-
My father, is a bank officer. However, has got good knowledge of Punjabi language and literature. His Father (my dada ji) and he himself use to sing Heer, Punjabi folk and some Punjabi ghazals a lot.
He has keen interest in Waris shah Heer & shiv kumar batalvi ji’s creations.
I am very lucky to have such talented mother & Guru under which I got training in classical, semi-classical, light music.
As, I have been researching and working on Indian classical, west-classical, jazz, blues, lounge, acid jazz, mambo music, African music styles etc. since a long time.
My first guru, my mother has been helping me in my research work. We’ve formed many different tan, alaap and sargam styles to mix and fuse it with classic jazz, blues music.
With her we founded a group named ‘Voice of anhad’ under which we’ll form a band and academy soon.
Please watch our group/band page called "voice of anhad". We will lay stress on quality not quantity. Hopefully, we will be doing shows and recordings in near future.
At last I would like to say that a Great Kirtani gharana and its name may die but a gharana in the Blood of a musician never dies.
The Legacy of music passes on to my children and so on……….
Regards,
Amandeep Singh Sodhi
(Classical, semi-classical, light Singer & musician)
great to know all the details.
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