Roop Kumar Rathod felt like he was living a dream.
The singer interviewed legendary ghazal singer Jagjit Singh on Radio City 91.1 FM's morning show, Musical-E-Azam.
Continuing in our series, rediff.com presents excerpts from an interesting conversation with Roop, Jagjitji and RJ Manish Paul:
Roop: I'm excited to hear all the songs and beautiful ghazals with our celebrity guest Jagjit Singhji. I know that everyone will always treasure this program. Just as birds are incomplete without wings, trees are incomplete without fruits, land is incomplete without water, the world is incomplete without music, similarly poetry is incomplete without Jagjitji.
Jagjit: Thanks to you all for inviting me here. I am just a messenger. Roopji you have flattered me a lot. I just try to bring happiness with music.
Roop: That's very modest of you. Tell us how does your day begin?
Jagjit: I get up from bed and go to the bathroom. Then I go for a walk to the racecourse. I love horses. I walk, and so get a little exercise.
Roop: Can you tell us about your childhood?
Jagjit: I was born in Ganganagar, Punjab. My father was a government servant. I did my schooling, college and music training there. I had seven brothers and sisters. My father had a notion that fine art training is important to develop one's personality. So he enrolled us in music school, where all of them dropped out but only I continued.
I was trained by Pandit Chaganlal Sharma. But he could teach me only the basics. Then my father asked Ustad Jamal Khan to teach me. At first he was reluctant, but after hearing me he agreed to teach. I was 14-15 then. I learnt more about music with him. I won the first prize in singing at a youth festival. Then I won a prize in classical singing competition organized by All India Radio.
Don't Miss: More about Radio City's Musical-E-Azam