Wah Taj - Madhur Bhatia comes calling

Madhur Bhatia was inducted into the Harmonica Club of Gujarat last Saturday as an honorary lifetime member. He had come all the way from Agra, his home town, to meet the members of HCG which held a get together at Bansibhai Gajjar's home. We were regaled by Mr. Bhatia's excellent rendition of old Hindi film numbers.

Mr. Bhatia has been playing harmonica since he was seven-year-old. "My father, who played violin, encouraged me and gifted me my first harmonica," he says. Since then, Mr. Bhatia has been playing the instrument. He plays by ears, without having any formal training in music. One wonders how he is able to follow all the minute details of a song, including the prelude and interlude background music.

We present here some of the songs he played on Saturday night:

Chhupa Rustom comes out his closet

Nachiketa ji namaskar
I m sorry I m late in my reply & hope u will excuse me. I belong to Distt Poonch of J&K state now settled at Jammu city. So far as my journey of music is concerned it is in my veins nerves & blood from my childhood. I was lucky enough to have a company of good highly talented friends. Our teachers always encouraged us & we used to sing in school, national as well as religious functions esp. during navratri when we used to manage a small orchestra & I used to play harmonium & banjo for the ramleela & continued till my graduation. when I was in 10+2 during 1967 that one of my friends gifted me a small ordinary harmonica (Kohinoor) where from my harmonica journey started & soon I was able to play in various functions. I did B.Sc. from govt degree college Poonch & came to Jammu where I started learning violin from a teacher but due to my immediate selection as Range Forest Officer in J&K Govt State Forest Deptt during 1971 was deputed to forest research instt Dehra Dun to undergo 2 years rigorous training in the northern forest rangers college. The busy schedule didn't allow me to carry on my violin practice. I was very lucky to have my batch mates from north eastern states highly talented persons & very experts in flute violin guitar etc. we framed a college orchestra & performed in college as well as outside functions & got applause. After completing the training I came back to my state where my hectic busy schedule started. Our work starts from where road connectivity & inhabitation ceases so harmonica became my passion, best friend & used to play under the snow clad mountains in the lush green pine forests on the bank of a milky stream with the melodies of 50s-70s. Can't explain how enjoyable it was. I retired as D F O (DY Conservator OF Forests) during 2005 & leading a retired relaxed life. I joined YouTube during 2009 where in I came in contact with highly talented persons. I have two sons the elder one a doctor & excellent guitar player & the younger an engineer who always insisted & encouraged me to do some thing with my harmonica. It is a matter of great pleasure & fun of proud for me that great persons like you & the harmonica fraternity have encouraged me with generous comments liking my uploads exhilarating, elating & invigorating me.
Thanks& regards
Sincerely yours
Jagjit Singh Isher
157 sector-1 lane-9 Nanak Nagar Jammu
(J&K)_180004
Mob 09419106747

A Chhupa Rustom: Jagjit Singh Isher

I stumbled upon three videos of Jagjit Singh Isher on youtube the other day to discover this Chhupa Rustom. Unfortunately, I don't know much about him. My request for his details has not yet elicited a response. However, for the benefit of harmonica lovers, I am presenting here these videos.