The information below regarding Bhai Ajit Singh Ji was obtained from an interview with his son, Bhai Harjinder Singh on the YouTube channel ‘True Promotion’.
Bhai Ajit Singh Ji was blessed with a very powerful and melodious voice. He was a very popular Kirtaniya in his time and served the Sikh Panth with his deep knowledge of Gurbani and Kirtan. His birth took place in a village in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab on the 4th of September 1953. He was born into a family of landowners and they were financially stable. However, he had no interest in following in his family occupation. His interest was in music and reading. His paternal grandmother had a huge impact on developing his interests while growing up. She was very knowledgeable about Gurbani and used to tell him many religious stories. This got him interested in learning more about Sikhi and Kirtan. When he was in school, he would save the pocket money he received and use it to buy reading materials or Dharmak records. He used to perform in school functions and was nicknamed Ajit Singh Panchi.
His philosophy was to learn something from everyone. He believed that everyone had some knowledge to share; whether it was about music, religion or social. One of Bhai Ajit Singh Ji’s music teachers was someone known to his son only as Lokhande Ji based in Meerut. He was a student of Ustad Amir Khan of Indore Gharana. When Bhai Ajit Singh Ji went to Nagpur, he also learned from another maestro who was a ‘gurbhai’ of Pandit Bhimshen Joshi Ji. Once he came to Jalandhar, he came under the guidance of Balbir Seth, a vocalist who performed Khyal regularly on Akashvani. He picked up the intricacies of classical music from Balbir Seth Ji. Bhai Ajit Singh Ji was given the title ‘Ustad Kirtani’ by the Sangat and also other Kirtanis who listened to him. His Kirtan was appreciated by many of the leading Kirtanis such as Bhai Sarabjit Singh Rangila, Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa, Bhai Satvinder Singh and Harvinder Singh. Even the legendary ‘jatha’ of Bhai Dilbagh Singh and Gulbagh Singh were very close to him and enjoyed his Kirtan. They used to invite him to their home to perform Kirtan whenever they had a function. At one Kirtan Samagam, Bhai Sarabjit Singh Laddi was suppose to perform Kirtan before Bhai Ajit Singh Ji. However, when he got to know that Bhai Ajit Singh Ji was performing, he said that he wanted to sit and listen to the Kirtan. He had been a big fan and used to listen to Bhai Ajit Singh Ji perform on the radio.
Bhai Ajit Singh Ji used to practice almost the entire day and according to his son, he never used a harmonium during practice. His believed that it was important to culture the voice by perfecting the notes without any accompaniment. His advice to his son was “Make your voice as the harmonium”. His foundation was so strong that he could switch between raags with such ease, all without the use of any instrument. Besides Gurmat Sangeet, he was also adept in other forms of music such as Ghazal, Thumri and Qawali. Besides music, he was also gifted in the art of ‘katha’. He had a very strong command on Gurbani and would give a lot of focus to language and grammar. He had a vast collection of books and had made a library for himself at home. Whenever not practicing music, he would be in his library pouring over the books. For each point that he wanted to get across to the Sangat, he would research a few books and extract all the relevant information to be analyzed. He was well learned and that was reflected in his Katha. He had a very sharp memory as well and would recall the title and author of the book he took a quote from.
Bhai Ajit Singh Ji performed in most of the major cities around India and was appreciated outside of Punjab as well. He was invited many times to perform in Mumbai, Indore and other cities as he was capable of doing ‘katha’ in Hindi as well. He also traveled abroad many times. Some of the countries he visited include Germany, Canada, England and the United States of America. He spent almost one year in England from 1983 to 1984. Most often though, he toured the United States and has been there many times over a period of 20 years. He stopped traveling abroad from 2008, as he wished to remain in Punjab after that.
Growing up in a music filled household, his son, Harjinder Singh naturally followed in his footsteps. At the age of 6 or 7, he began to learn ‘tabla’ from Bhai Ajit Singh Nimana. Subsequently, he became a student of renowned Pandit Rama Kant Ji, from whom he gained a lot of knowledge. He also developed an interest in singing and started to learn vocals from his father initially, but then was sent to Mohan Malsaini for classical training. He accompanied his father on the ‘tabla’ and side harmonium for many years. Some of Bhai Ajit Singh Ji’s other companions include his younger brother, Bhai Mohan Singh Ji on the side harmonium and Bhai Rajbinder Singh on ‘tabla’.
Bhai Ajit Singh Ji had a very happy- go-lucky nature and was always in a jovial mood. According to those who knew him, he would always cheer everyone up even if they were feeling sad and is fondly remembered by those who met him. Bhai Ajit Singh Ji passed away on 14th February 2019. Following his passing, his son has formed his own ‘jatha’ and is continuing the legacy. He incorporates Bhai Ajit Singh Ji’s style into his own Kirtan to keep the torch burning. Currently, he is serving Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Guru Amardas Nagar. He has also traveled to Canada, Australia and Netherlands for Kirtan programs.
If anyone has more recordings of Bhai Ajit Singh Ji to share, please contact us.
The two recordings below are from a Kirtan program on 11th June 2000. These were kindly contributed by Sardar Nachatar Singh Sahota. Please ‘right click’ and ‘save link as’ to download audio recordings. Enjoy!
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – Aisey Gur Kou Bal Bal Jayea
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – Tumri Kirpa te Manukh Deh Payee Hey
The following recordings were obtained from the YouTube channel of Bhai Balwant Singh Ji Littranwala. Please visit his channel ‘BS Littranwala’ for more treasures. He also has one of the best collections of Dhadhi jathas.
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – Aisi Kirpa Mohe Karo
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – Chandan Ka Birva
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – Har Jan Kou Ehee Suhaave
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – Jaagna Jaagan Neeka
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – Saadh Sang Har Kirtan
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – So Kich Kar Jit Mel
Shabads from the album ‘Sabhna Vich Tu Vartada Shaha’.
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – 01 Sabhna Vich Tu Vartada Shaha
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – 02 Aise Gur Ko Bal Bal Jaiye
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – 03 Kahe Man Tu Dolta
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – 04 Meharwan Sahib Meharwan
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – 05 Sukh Hove Din Raati
The recording below is from a Kirtan program at Gurdwara Mitha Tiwana, Hoshiarpur on 14th March 2008. Please follow their Youtube channel ‘Sewapanthi’ for more recordings.
Bhai Ajit Singh (Jalandhar) – Anchal Geh Ke Sadh Ka (with Katha)