Jagjit Singh (born Jagmohan Singh Dhiman; 8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011) was an Indian composer, singer and musician. He composed and sang in numerous languages and is credited for the revival and popularity of

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them. In terms of

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

, his style of composing and ''gayaki'' (singing) is considered as ''Bol-pradhan'', one that lays emphasis on words. He highlighted this in his music for films such as '' Prem Geet'' (1981), ''

Arth Arth is a village, a town, and a municipality in Schwyz District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The municipality consists of the villages Arth, Oberarth, and Goldau. The four settlements Rigi Kulm, Rigi First, Rigi Klösterli, and ...

(1982)'', and '' ''Saath Saath'''' (1982), and TV serials ''

Mirza Ghalib Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (27 December 179715 February 1869), commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet. Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, he also produced a significant body of work in Persian. Ghali ...

'' (1988) and '' Kahkashan'' (1991). Singh is considered to be among the most successful ghazal singers and composers of all time in terms of critical acclaim and commercial success. With a career spanning five decades and many albums, the range and breadth of his work has been regarded as genre-defining. Singh's 1987 album, ''Beyond Time'', was the first digitally recorded release in India. He was regarded as one of India's most influential artists. With sitar player

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

and other leading figures of

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, Singh voiced his concerns over politicisation of arts and culture in India and lack of support experienced by the practitioners of India's traditional art forms, particularly

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

artists and musicians. He lent active support to several philanthropic endeavours such as the library at St. Mary's School, Mumbai, Bombay Hospital, CRY,

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

and ALMA. Singh was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

by the

government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 2003 and in February 2014, the government released a set of two postal stamps in his honour.

Early life and career

Jagjit Singh Dhiman was born on 8 February 1941 in

Sri Ganganagar Sri Ganganagar is the northernmost city of the Indian state of Rajasthan, near the international border of India and Pakistan. It is the administrative headquarters of Sri Ganganagar district. It is named after Maharaja Shri Ganga Singh Bahad ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, India (then

Bikaner State Bikaner State was the princely state, Princely State in the north-western most part of the History of Bikaner, Rajputana province of imperial British India from 1818 to 1947. The founder of the state Rao Bika was a younger son of Rao ...

) into a

Namdhari The Namdharis or Namdhari Sikhs (Gurmukhi: ਨਾਮਧਾਰੀ; Devanagari: नामधारी; ''nāmadhārī'', meaning "bearers of the name"), also known as Kuka (Gurmukhi: ਕੂਕਾ; ''kūkā'' (''sing.)''; ਕੂਕੇ; ''kūkē'' (''p ...

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

Punjabi family. His father, Sardar Amar Singh Dhiman, was a surveyor with the government's Public Works' Department and hailed from village Dalla in Ropar district of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. Educated initially at Khalsa High School and Government College in Sri Ganganagar, Singh obtained an arts degree from DAV College,

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

. There, he began his professional career in 1961 by undertaking singing and composing assignments at

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

's (AIR) Jalandhar station. Later, he studied to obtain a post-graduate degree in history from

Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (KUK) is a university established on 11January 1956 in Kurukshetra, in the Indian state of Haryana, from the capital, Delhi. It is a member of Association of Commonwealth Universities. History The univers ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

. Throughout this time, and as a consequence of a natural talent that was spotted by his father, Singh learned music initially from a visually impaired master of Indian classical music, ''Pandit Chagan Lal Sharma'' and later from ''Ustad Jamal Khan'' of

Maihar gharana The Maihar Gharana or Maihar-Senia Gharana is a gharana or school of classical music, a style of Indian classical music originating in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The school was formed by Allaudin Khan in the princely state ...

, who taught and trained him in all the prominent styles of

Hindustani Classical Hindustani classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' literally means classica ...

vocal tradition such as

Khayal Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian language, Persian/Arabic language, Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with rom ...

Dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is als ...

Thumri Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dram ...

and others. Throughout his teenage years, he performed on stage and composed music. Although his father, who was a government employee, had hoped that he would become an engineer, Singh pursued his passion for music relentlessly. Like all parents in Indian middle-class families, his father aspired for him to become a bureaucrat. However, he also encouraged Singh and his siblings to learn music. In March 1965, and without the knowledge of his family, Singh moved to

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, where there were many opportunities for music artists because of the

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

film industry. He obtained work initially as a singer of advertising jingles and later progressed to

playback singing A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync th ...

Achievement

Singh was still struggling to make a living in 1967 when he met the Bengali-born Chitra Dutta. She divorced her husband and married Singh in December 1969. Following the birth of their son, Vivek, the couple performed as a singing duo but it was not until the 1977 release of the album ''The Unforgettable'' that they found significant, and surprising, success. In the interval, the primary difficulty for them had been that the ghazal music genre was dominated by Muslim artists and especially those from Pakistan. ''The Unforgettable'', which was the couple's first LP, was an unconventional recording and it turned them into stars. The song "Baat Niklegi" from the album achieved great popularity for the Singhs. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' described it in 2011 as "ground-breaking ... it became a transformative, before-and-after milestone in the history of Indian popular and ghazals music. It remains that." Using modern arrangements, it consists of ten tracks that include two on which they sang as a duo and the remainder equally split between Jagjit and Chitra singing the lead. ''The Independent'' further noted that "This format of solo and duet performances from the first commercially successful husband-and-wife team in Indian popular music proved astonishingly successful." Jagjit explained that "I was determined to polish up the genre and make it more acceptable to modern tastes, so chose simple poems and set them to simple tunes. I also introduced western instrumentation to make them livelier." Thereafter, the couple worked both on solo and joint musical projects and performed concerts worldwide. There was success from involvement with the film industry and they amassed considerable wealth. Among their subsequent duo recordings of the 1970s were ''

Shiv Kumar Batalvi Shiv Kumar Batalvi (23 July 1936 – 6 May 1973) was a Punjabi poet, writer and playwright of the Punjabi language. He was most known for his romantic poetry, noted for its heightened passion, pathos, separation and lover's agony, due to that ...

– Birha da Sultan'' (1978), ''Live in Concert at Wembley'' (1979) and ''Come Alive'' (1979). Of those released in the 1980s, "The Latest" by

Sudarshan Faakir Sudarshan Faakir (19 December 1934 - 19 February 2008), better known by his takhallus Faakir, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist. His ghazals and nazms were sung by Begum Akhtar and Jagjit Singh. His son Manav Faakir is also a lyricist. E ...

was the best selling album with his lifetime hit "Woh Kagaz ki Kashti...Woh Baarish ka Paani". It was the first album by the duo with poetry of only one Poet. ''Ecstasies'' (1984) has also been described as "one of their finest". The joint projects ceased in 1990 when their 20-year-old son, Vivek, died in a road accident. Chitra felt unable to sing following these events. Monica, Chitra's daughter from her first marriage, committed suicide in 2009. Although Jagjit continued to work and to have success after Chitra withdrew from public life he, too, was affected by the death of Vivek. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' notes that he "suffered from deep depression and his anguish was often evident in his live performances." Aside from occupying himself with solo projects, which he performed in several languages, he collaborated with

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

on an album titled '' Sajda'', an

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

word meaning "prostration". Singh's work in film encompassed playback singing for productions such as ''

'', '' ''Saath Saath'''' and '' Premgeet''. He composed all of the songs for the latter, as well as for the TV serial ''

'' that was based on the life of the eponymous poet,

. On 10 May 2007, in the presence of numerous political and diplomatic luminaries at an event held in the Central Hall of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

, Jagjit Singh rendered Bahadur Shah Zafar's famous ghazal ''Lagta nahin hai dil mera'' to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

Albums

Personal life

In 1990, Vivek Singh (Jagjit Singh and Chitra's son) died in a road accident at the age of 20. This came as a profound shock to Jagjit and Chitra Singh. They gave up music for a full year after the death. At the end of that period, Jagjit returned slowly to music, but Chitra announced her retirement and declared that she would not sing or record any more songs. In 2009, his step-daughter, Monica Chowdhary, aged 50, died by suicide. Singh had suffered from numerous ailments like

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

and

hypertension Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a Chronic condition, long-term Disease, medical condition in which the blood pressure in the artery, arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms i ...

during his later life, and had undergone two heart bypass surgeries in 1998 and 2007. A chain smoker for decades, he had stopped smoking after his first heart attack.

Death

Singh turned 70 in February 2011. To celebrate his 70th birthday he committed 70 concerts in different parts of the world. He toured the UK, Singapore, Mauritius, inter alias, in 2011 and was due to perform with Ghulam Ali in Mumbai but suffered a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

on 23 September 2011. He was in a coma for over two weeks and died on 10 October at

Lilavati Hospital The Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre is a private hospital located in Bandra, Mumbai, India. The hospital was established in 1978 by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust. History In 1978, Kirtilal Manilal Mehta—an Indian busi ...

, in Mumbai. He was cremated the following day at Chandanwadi Crematorium near Marine Lines in Mumbai. A number of tributes have been paid to Singh after his death, and some tried to cash in on his popularity, which was criticised by his wife.

Legacy

A biography of Singh, entitled ''Beyond Time'' based on about 40 hours of interviews with him, was released in 2012. It was transcribed and edited by Ashrani Mathur. A biopic documentary by the name of ''Kaagaz Ki Kashti'' has been made on the life journey of Jagjit Singh, who broke through the norms and revolutionised the Ghazal scenario. The film traces the struggle and stardom in his musical career, the love & loss in his personal life and the scope and limitations in the music scenario of the times. The film directed by Brahmanand S Singh is currently available on Amazon Prime Video in India and worldwide.

Recognition

* In 2012, the State Government of Rajasthan posthumously awarded Jagjit Singh its highest civilian award, the Rajasthan Ratna. * In 2002 and 2005, Singh was awarded the Indian Telly Award for the best title singer for a TV show. * In 2003, Singh was awarded the

, India's third highest civilian award, by the government of India * In 1998, Jagjit Singh was awarded

Sahitya Academy Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

, a literary honour in India. He was awarded for popularising the work of

. * Sahitya Kala Academy Award by Rajasthan government in 1998 * Ghalib Academy by Delhi Government in 2005 * Dayawati Modi Award in 1999. * Lata Mangeshkar Samman in 1998 by Madhya Pradesh government. * D.Litt. by Kurukshetra University, Haryana in 2003 * Teacher's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.8th Teacher's Achievement Awards. *

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

honoured Jagjit Singh with a

doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract art, abstract lines or shapes, generally w ...

on his 72nd birthday on 8 February 2013.

Film scores

Discography

* ''

(1982)'' * '' Saath Saath (1982)'' * ''Aaeena (2000)'' * ''Aarogya Mantra (2008)'' * ''Adaa (1992)'' * ''Ae Mere Dil (1983)'' * ''A Journey (2000)'' * ''Akhand Ram Naam (2009)'' * ''A Milestone (1980)'' * ''Amritanjali (2009)'' * ''An Evening With Jagjit & Chitra Singh (Live)'' * ''A Sound Affair (1985)'' * ''Awaaz (2007)'' * ''Baba Sheikh Farid (Shabads & Shlokas- 2006)'' * ''Beyond Time (1987)'' * ''Best of Jagjit & Chitra Singh (2005)'' * ''Bhajans (Lata-Jagjit −2004)'' * ''Bhajan Uphar (2008)'' * ''Biraha Da Sultan (1978)'' * ''Chahat (2004)'' * ''Chirag (Also known as Live in Trinidad – Islamic Devotional- 1993)'' * ''Classics Forever (2000)'' * ''Close to My Heart (2003)'' * ''Come Alive in a Concert (1979)'' * ''Cry For CRY (1995)'' * ''Dard-E-Jigar (2011)'' * ''Desires (1994)'' * ''Different Strokes (2001)'' * ''Dil- Jagjit, Asha & Lata (2002)'' * ''Dil Kahin Hosh Kahin (1999)'' * ''Do Dil Do Rahein (A Tribute To Mehdi Hasan- 2007)'' * ''Echoes (1986)'' * ''Ecstasies (1984)'' * ''Emotions (1989)'' * ''Encore'' * ''Essential Chants of Shiva (2006)'' * ''Eternity (1978)'' * ''Face To Face (1994)'' * ''Forever (2002)'' * ''Forget Me Not (2002)'' * ''Gayatri Mantra (2008)'' * Ghalib Live in Concert (2014) * ''Ghazal Greats Jagjit Singh And Ghulam Ali'' * ''Ghazals from Films (1989)'' * ''Golden Moments (1999)'' * ''Govardhan Girdhari (2011)'' * ''Guru Govind Singh (1998)'' * ''Hare Krishna (Live)'' * ''Hari Om Tatsat (2003)'' * ''Harmony'' * ''Hey Govind Hey Gopal (1991)'' * ''Hey Ram (Ram Dhun)'' * ''Hare Ram Hare Krishna (1999)'' * ''Hope (1991)'' * '' Kahkashan'',''

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

TV Serial (1991–92)'' * ''In Search (1992)'' * ''In Sight (1994)'' * ''In Sync- Jagjit Singh & Asha Bhonsle'' * ''Inteha (2009)'' * ''Jaam Utha(1999)'' * ''Jai Raghunandan Jai Siyaram (2002)'' * ''Jai Siya Ram (2000)'' * ''Jazbaat (2008)'' * ''Jeevan Kya Hai (2005)'' * ''Jeevan Maran Chhe Ek (Gujrati)'' * ''Kabir (2007)'' * ''Karuna (2007)'' * ''Keertan (Gurbani- 2000)'' * ''Khamoshi (2002)'' * ''Khumar'' * ''Khwahish (2002)'' * ''Krishna (1983)'' * ''Krishna Bhajans (1998)'' * ''Koi Baat Chale (2006)'' * ''Krishna Bhajans And Music For Divine Meditation (2009)'' * ''Krishna Dhun'' * ''Live in Concert (1988)'' * ''Live in Concert at the Wembley (1980)'' * ''Live in Pakistan (1979)'' * ''Live in Royal Albert Hall (1983)'' * ''Live in Sydney (2006)'' * ''Life Story (Live- 2001)'' * ''Live With Jagjit & Chitra Singh'' * ''Live With Jagjit Singh (1993)'' * ''Love'' * ''Love Is Blind (1998)'' * ''Maa (1993)'' * ''Madho Hum Aise Tu Aisa (2003)'' * ''Madhusudana- Shree Krishna Dhun (2011)'' * ''Magic Moments'' * ''Main Aur Meri Tanhai (1981)'' * ''Man Jeetey Jagjit (1990)'' * ''Man Mein Ram Basa Le'' * ''Marasim (1999)'' * ''Mara Ghatma Shrinathji (2007)'' * ''Mehfil (1990)'' * ''Melodious Pair'' * ''Memorable Concert (Live)'' * ''Memorable Ghazals of Jagjit and Chitra (1990)'' * ''Mirage (1995)'' * ''Mirza Ghalib (T.V. Serial- 1988)'' * ''Mitr Pyaare Nu (2005)'' * ''Moksha (2005)'' * ''Morning Prayers And Music For Divine Meditation (2009'') * ''Muntzir (2004)'' * ''Nayi Disha (1999)'' * ''Nivedan (2011)'' * ''Om- The Divine Mantra (2007)'' * ''Parwaaz (live at the Esplanade, Singapore- 2004)'' * ''Passions (1987)'' * ''Phaldata Ganesh: God Who Fulfills Wishes (2006)'' * ''Playback Years'' * ''Pray For India'' * ''Punjabi Hits- Jagjit & Chitra Singh'' * ''Radhey Krishna Radhey Shyam (2000)'' * ''Radhey Krishna Dhun'' * ''Rare Gems (1992)'' * ''Rare Moments'' * ''Ravayat'' * ''Rishton Mein Darar Aayi'' * ''Romance'' * ''Masha alla'' * ''Royal Salute'' * ''Saanwara (2003)'' * ''Saher (2000)'' * ''Sai Dhun (2005)'' * '' Sajda'' (1991) * ''Samvedna (2002)'' * ''Samyog (Nepali)'' * Shabads Live in the UK (2014) * ''Shiva (Dhuns and Bhajans- 2005)'' * ''Shri Ganesha (2010)'' * ''Shukrana (2011)'' * ''Silsilay (1998)'' * ''Solid Gold (2001)'' * ''Someone Somewhere (1990)'' * ''Soz (2001)'' * ''Stolen Moments'' * ''Tera Bayaan Ghalib (2012)'' * ''The Inimitable Ghazals Composed by Jagjit Singh (1996)'' * ''The Latest (1982)'' * ''The Life And Times of Jagjit Singh (2011)'' * ''The Master and His Magic (2012)'' * ''The Unforgettables (1977)'' * ''The Voice From Beyond (2013)'' * ''Together'' * ''Trishna (Bengali-2001)'' * ''Tum Toh Nahin Ho (2005)'' * ''Unique (1996)'' * ''Vakratunda Mahakaya (2006)'' * ''Visions (1992)'' * ''Your Choice (1993)''

References

External links

Jagjit Singh on BBC
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Jagjit 1941 births 2011 deaths Indian male composers Indian male ghazal singers Indian Sikhs Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts People from Sri Ganganagar district People of Punjabi descent Kurukshetra University alumni 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian singers Indian classical composers 20th-century Indian composers Musicians from Rajasthan 21st-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian composers Sindhi playback singers