His voice was panacea for pained souls

AHMEDABAD: Mehul Parekh , 52, has never missed a single Jagjit Singh concert ever since he first got an opportunity to hear him live in 1975 ! On hearing about the demise of his favourite singer , the first thing Parekh did was to plan a concert where he and his friends would play their favourite Jagjit songs to give a heart-felt tribute to the singer.
Parekh has a vast collection of old LP records and new CDs of Jagjit Singh’s music – all the albums that Parekh possesses bear autograph of the artist .“Whenever he came to Ahmedabad , I would get all the records and CDs signed by him . He would tell me that music is alive because it has devotees like me ,” reminisces Parekh . Parekh said that he would sit down to make a CD of his favourite Jagjit Singh songs and organize a get-together of friends to offer a tribute to the singer . One of his favourite songs of the ghazal-maestro is Main khayal hoon kisi aur ka , mujhe chahta koi aur hai’ .
Parekh , who has been attending almost all the concerts that happened in the city after 1975 , is a close associate of Abhinav Upadhyay – tabla artist accompanying Jagjitji . “I have seldom missed a live music concert of Jagjitji in the city ,” said Parekh .
His innovative compositions which have classical music touch and fusion of contemporary musical instruments made ghazals more popular , feels Parekh .
His devotional Gujarati songs and bhajans are his best gift to Gujarat . “Truly empathizing nature of his voice made him establish a deep and straight connection with listeners’ heart and soul. His voice was a like a panacea to pained souls,” said Parekh.