Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad's emotional tribute to the late Bhajan Sopori

A Living Legend and a musical genius Pandit Bhajan Sopori, who breathed his last on June 2, left behind a void in the world of the classical music industry. Remembered as the cultural bridge of the State of Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of the country, Pandit Bhajan Sopori was hailed as the “Saint of the Santoor” and the “King of Strings” and during the prayer meeting of the departed soul, senior political leaders Farooq Abdullah,  and Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed their deep connection with the ‘humble human being’. The former also took the stage to sing a song to remember the mystic master.

“We are deeply pained by the death of Bhajan Sopori. He had so much love and adulation for every religion, culture, and people. I just wish that god give strength to his family to carry forward his legacy,” said Farooq Abdullah during the prayer meet of Bhajan Sopori and also sang a line from one of the bhajans titled ‘Ram More Ram, Kis Galli Gayo More Ram’. Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was attending his first function after surgery, said that he was in shock to hear about the death of his friend. “He was part of our family and for me, he was not just a musician but a saint who never believed in so many religions but one identity. Coming from Kashmir, he used to love all religions, and people and that has made him the most humble and Nobel person. He always used to say that we are human beings first and that’s the prime truth. Caste, culture, and religion were secondary to him,” said Azaad. Probably this is the reason why his prayer meeting has representatives of all four religions praying for the peace of his soul on the stage. Born in Srinagar (Kashmir) into a family of musicians of the fabled ‘Sufiana Gharana’ of Kashmir (the exclusive traditional Santoor family of the country), pandit Bhajan Sopori master was the bearer of a rich musical legacy and was the great-grandson of Pandit Shankar Pandit, the great master who developed the style popularly known as the ‘Sufi Baaj’ (style), based on Sufiana Qulam music and Indian classical music. Pandit Bhajan Sopori was initiated into Santoor playing by his grandfather Pandit S. C. Sopori and later by his father Pandit Shamboo Nath Sopori (hailed as the father of music in the State of Jammu and Kashmir). He will always be remembered for establishing the Santoor on national and international platforms as a complete solo instrument. He has increased the range of the Santoor from the conventional one-and-a-half to more than 5 octaves, balanced the ‘Kalam’ (strikers) with ‘boles’, and attached the ‘Tarab’ and ‘Tumba’ for enhanced tonal quality, etc. He was the only classical musician of the country to have composed music for almost 5000 songs in almost all the languages of the country like Hindi, Kashmiri, Dogri, Urdu, Sanskrit, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Himachali, Rajasthani, Telugu, Tamil, etc. and also foreign languages like Persian, Arabic, etc. His acclaimed work includes compositions for various musical genres like Ghazal, Geet, Bhajan, Choirs, Devotional (Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim), Children’s songs, etc. He created a new wave in the music of J&K with light and folk music and musicians practically grooming under him. Pandit Bhajan Sopori has also used his Santoor and his compositions to highlight the concept of oneness and foster unity enshrining the idea of national integration, humanism, and peace amongst the common man and the youth in particular. Now, his son pledges to carry forward his legacy. “Papa’s death is a big loss for the entire world and if we talk about Santoor, then my responsibilities have increased many folds. Our legacy is 300- years old in which generation after generation has been one of the master musicians so the responsibility is immense as there is not just a representation of the Gharana but the disciples’ are looking at me now,” Abhay Rustum Sopori told Firstpost. He also says that his father used to work a lot for the betterment of Kashmir and now that job is also on his shoulders. “Also, I have to look at giving the right opportunities to young musicians and elderly ones who don’t get stage. Papa had a strong vision for music and I will try to make sure that his dreams come true. I have his blessings and learning,” he added. Also present at the event were Bhojpuri singer Malini Awasthi, along with Akram Khan, Ragini Rainu, Shanno Khurana, Pt. Vijay Shankar Mishra, Nancy Dhar, Ranjana Narayan, Madhup Mudgal, Dayanand Vats,  Raffiuddin Sabri along with others. Divyansh, the disciple of Pandit Bhajan Sopori,  also performed a composition written by the late musician. Ragini Rainu too paid tribute to the late musician with a composition. Nivedita Sharma’s work experience includes covering fashion weeks in Milan, Pakistan, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Dubai, and award functions like IIFA, and TOIFA.    Read all the Latest News_, _ Trending News_, _ Cricket News_, _ Bollywood News_, _ India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook_, _ Twitter and Instagram_._