Harjap Singh Aujla writes from New Jersey

“SO kyon visre meri maye” was a “Shabad of Gurubani” being rendered on radio in a highly emotional tone and texture by an unheard extraordinary singer. This highly cultured voice completely mesmerized me when I tuned in to All India Radio Jalandhar-Amritsar some day way back in 1952. Later on the announcer said “You have just heard the voice of Bhai Sumund Singh Ragi singing a Shabad”. My father, during the years of his college education, had heard this heavenly voice for the first time in mid nineteen twenties at Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sri Nankana Sahib during the marathon celebrations of the Birth Anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji. Since then my father, Late Sardar Sochet Singh became a lifelong admirer of Bhai Samund Singh ji and with extreme reverence my father used to call Bhai Samund Singh ji as the Samunder of Gurmat Sangeet (the ocean of Sikh Religious Music). From that ominous morning of 1952, even I became a big fan of the enchanted silken voice of Bhai Samund Singh. Whenever Bhai Samund Singh happened to visit the studios of All India Radio Jalandhar, he was accorded the reverence he deserved.

The authorities of All India Radio Jalandhar – Amritsar fixed every Friday of the week for predominance of “Shabad Kirtan”. Bhai Samund Singh was invited once in every fortnight to perform live at that radio station. This radio station had a number of its own musical instruments including several “Tanpuras” (a string instrument which accompanies every North Indian Classical musician during the rendition of pure classical numbers); Bhai Sumund Singh and Master Rattan had the liberty to choose any one of the Tanpuras for accompaniment. Most other musicians had to bring their own Tanpuras. This fact was told to me by Sardar Jodh Singh, retired Assistant Station Director of All India Radio Jalandhar. During the twice a month visits to the radio station Sardar Jodh Singh almost invariably invited Bhai Samund Singh to lunch at his residence.

Sardar Jodh Singh told me that the ancestry of Bhai Samund Singh who hailed from the districts of Sheikhupura, Gujjranwala, Lyallpur and Montgomery. Sardar Jodh Singh himself hailed from Gujjranwala , but before independence he served as a head master in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) in Pakistani Punjab. According to Jodh Singh, strict discipline and regular “Riyaz” of the Ragas was a hallmark of Bhai Samund Singh.

Bhai Samund Singh was born in 1900 in village “Mulla Hamza” in Montgomery (now Sahiwal) district of West Punjab. This district was famous for its rich Sikh farming community. Although the Sikhs constituted barely ten percent of the population, but financially they were well off. Sikhism was thriving in this area of Multan division. One of role-model families for the Sikhs was the dynasty of Bhai Huzoor Singh, the illustrious father of Bhai Samund Singh. Bhai Hazoor Singh set a vigorous training regime for his son. He was made to learn “Japuji Sahib” and “Rehraas” by heart before the age of ten. By the age of twelve he Singh had learnt at least one thousand Shabads of Sri Guru Granth Sahib by heart. He had also undergone proper training in several ragas by that age.

The family lived and served in the historic shrines at Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Sri Guru Nanak Dev. At the young age of twelve, Bhai Samund Singh performed one of the several “Chowkis” of Shabad Kirtan at Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sri Nankana Sahib (district Sheikhupura of Lahore division). The hereditary managers of the shrine were called “Mahants”. They had a host of failings, which have been highlighted in several documents and imperfections in their lifestyles but they had something good also to their credit. They were knowledgeable about the Sikh religious music. They knew the correct structure of the Ragas and they could quickly distinguish between a good Raagi (one who does rendition of Sikh religious music) and an ordinary Raagi. One such manager discovered the extraordinary talent in the young Samund Singh and he offered him a permanent position of “Huzoori Kirtania” at the famous Sikh shrine.

From 1912 onwards up to August of 1947, Bhai Samund Singh served as the leading “Hazoori Raagi” of Gurdwara Janam Asthan. It was the bloodshed at the time of creation of Pakistan that led the family of Bhai Samund Singh to leave their ancestral homes for good.

Soon after independence and the division of Punjab into Indian (East Punjab) and Pakistan’s (West Punjab), Bhai Samund Singh came to Amritsar, where he took a position as a “Hazoori Raagi” at the Golden Temple. Within a couple of years he decided to become a freelance “Kirtania” and moved to Ludhiana.

Bhai Samund Singh became the “A Class” artist of All India Radio Jalandhar sometime during the nineteen fifties. The Chief Khalsa Diwan Amritsar, the premier institution that established Khalsa College Amritsar and several other Sikh educational institutions used to hold annual Sikh Educational Conferences. Bhai Samund Singh was always an invitee in those conferences and he was the official Kirtania. During the 1969 Quin Centennial Celebration of the Birth of Guru Nanak Dev, a set of five long playing records was published and Bhai Samund Singh was the most prominent singer featured on this set of records.

Punjabi film “Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai” was made in 1969 and was accorded the President of India’s All India Gold Medal for excellence in film music. Bhai Samund Singh’s voice was most prominently featured in this film. The music director of the block buster film (S. Mohinder) did not fiddle with the tune. Bhai Samund Singh never compromised with bad musical practices. He never compromised with “Sur” and “Taal” and he rendered the Shabad in entirety.

Towards the end of 1971, Bhai Samund Singh was a sad grand old man of Sikh religious music. Public taste of the Sikh community had deteriorated significantly. The mediocre Kirtanias were getting a lot of respect and admiration and those who had struggled hard to hone their skills in the Ragas were being short changed. Even the authorities running the historic Sikh shrines were quite indifferent to the merit of the Hazoori Ragis. This frustration he had experienced towards the end of his life. In January of 1972, he left for his heavenly abode.

harjapaujla@gmail.com

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Television journalism: packing trivialities

V A Krishnan

OF late, news reported, analysed, and judgment delivered is becoming the order of day, as I see the Indian news channel. The journalists who run these so-called prime time news programmes do not even allow the participants to express his or her point of view. These journalists are young and energetic but don’t mean that the visual media is used for expressing their drawing room feelings.

In the first place, I am unable to understand whether it is news programme or a news-analysis time or a mere drawing room gupshup which is being aired. Not that I have anything personal to name these few, like Arnab Goswami, Burka Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai (am leaving the few obvious others from the Hindi channel without deliberation) etc.. I don't think they represent the majority viewers and perhaps not good enough to view the news in their own perspective and telecast. One might argue that the viewer has an option of switching over; but where?

My uncle (who was a journalist) used to say that be it print media or the visual, the news should be conveyed as is gathered and should not be expressed with opinions. But today, every newstime is more like a drawing discussion without much of facts and often being used for drawing conclusions. So, on one day, a prominent politician get hanged by a thread only to be replaced by a rose garland on some other day, both being interspersed with bias by the newscasters.

May be it is worth taking few lessons from BBC, CNN for the way the news being reported; analysis being done and critical comments expressed. To some extent, there is a discipline seen there and viewer has a freedom to view the matter of their choice. For example, Jonathan Mann and Christiano Amanpour don't come to report the breaking news, Christie Lu Stut don't do analysis herself while Anderson Cooper excels in doing a news-analysis, stories, etc.

We are not discouraged either by our own Karan Thapar's aggression like BBC's hard-talk by Stephen Sackur and would object only when he does that while reporting news! The television industry has space for everyone provided only the specialists do the job of allowing the freedom of viewership to public.

It is time, senior fraternity of the fourth estate stand up to do serious repair work on this system. We are not only drawing room viewers and have our own opinions, bias and belief as well. As a viewer, I must be respected for this and be given space to view the television in that sense.

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