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Alvida Ishmeet
Jagmohan Singh
 For full five
days it was an unofficial state mourning in Punjab over the death of
a 19 year old singer who had become the rallying identity centre for
the Sikhs of Punjab. In contemporary times, I cannot recall anyone
who has been showered such love and affection. In a country where
Sikhs are at the receiving end of discrimination, injustice,
jealousy and hate campaigns, he transcended all barriers and
enlisted support from the man on the street, from the artistes in
their drawing rooms and from the politicians in their offices.
Leading
newspapers have written editorials and leading channels have aired
special tributes to the young departed soul. An eerie feeling that
does come to mind is that the media has surprisingly not gone to
town in the same way as it did in the girl-child Aarushi murder
case. Has it learnt its lessons of good good journalistic behaviour
(quiet unlikely if you ponder over the other stuff it telecasts in
gory detail) or is
Maldives too far
away or somewhere deep down the anti-Sikh bias still shows?
Moving from his
humble abode in
Ludhiana to the
glitzy capital of Bollywood in Mumbai, he set out to establish his
mark as a Sikh singer with his turban as a symbol of his commitment
to his faith.
Why did Ishmeet
Singh become a phenomenon in a matter of months? How did he
fascinate so many people from all walks of life? While his death
remains shrouded in mystery, at the philosophical and spiritual
level, he was a man of destiny. He was destined to revive the hopes
of a community struggling to keep the Khalsa face in its own
homeland.
At his
cremation, someone told his uncle, Dr. Charan Kamal Singh, ‘tuhadha
bhatija si –was he your nephew?” He replied, “nahi, Qaum da si, Qaum
da bhatija si, Qaum da beta si.” Everyone agreed. This
transformation from a singer to become the son of the Sikh nation is
rare.
Bollywood
singing is not the staple diet of people of
Punjab, but this
young crooner had become popular with Keski wearing devout Sikh
girls and women in the same manner as the jean-clad modern Sikh
girls adored him.
Ishmeet Singh is
no more with us, but he has fostered in his own way the birth of
many more Ishmeets who will adhere to the fundamentals of the Sikh
faith pursing their chosen avocations. He will live with us through
memories canned in the prorammes of satellite channels, making him a
legend in the oral history of
Punjab.
Adieu Ishmeet
Singh, you will live in our hearts forever.
6 August, 2008
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