Page 28 - Demo
P. 28
| NORTH AmERIcAN Newsline |
AUGUST 21, 2020 | The Indian Eye
28
pandit jasRaj as ReMeMBeRed By Vedic heRitage inc. in neW yoRk
niliMa Madan
were addressed by him as Ma. At Vedic Heritage Inc. he was called Mamaji and was loved for his special expression, “Jai Ho”! He believed in living in the pres- ent and to always do what one is passionate about and he lived like that himself as he took his last class with students on Aug 16, 2020 and died at 5.15am in early hrs the next day. He said, steep steps are difficult but, take you to your destination and began his journey with the emotion ‘dīvāna banānā hai to dīvāna banā de varna kahīñ taqdīr tamāsha na banā de’. His devotion to music was unpar- alleled and his personal guide was ‘Lord Krishna’ himself.
VHI will be forever indebted to Pandit Jasraj ji for his bless-
he Beacon and legend NT
an Classical Music and a voice that can never be heard again has left us. Now a ‘Divya Jyoti’, Sangeet Martand Padma Vibhushan Pandit Jasraj Ji is in heaven to offer his divine musi- cal renderings to the Gods. He was given the title of ‘Ved Shiro- mani’ by Gurumaa Jyotishanand Saraswati of Vedic Heritage Inc. in New York. He knew Guruma since his early teens and always mentioned her like his sister and she was his first student, but he addressed Her as Maa or Di- vine Mother as time aged and all ladies who touched his feet too
ewYork
of India’s pride in Indi-
w w w. T h e I n d i a n E Y E . u s
Gurumaa with Panditji at VHI
Panditji doing Hanuman Baba Arti at VHI
ings for nearly four decades and his numerous performances in the Pandit jasraj Auditorium at Vedic Heritage in Hempstead NY, named after him as well as in the Hanuman temple where he visited every time he was in NY to meet Gurumaa and gra- ciously sang to Hanuman Baba at the temple impromptu. He was the premier at all two day Indian Classical Music and Dance Annual programs where Maestros from India performed with him at VHI and ametuer artists from India were encour- aged as future professional art- ists. He was the founder of the
Mewati Gharana and his disci- ples Pandita Tripti Mukherjee, Renu Jain, Ratan Mohan, Ad- itya Kumar and others often accompanied him in his perfor- mances here. We have his mem- ories etched in pictures and vid- eos that are unique to VHI.
We pray that may his soul achieve Nirvana and Sadgati, and may Hanuman Baba give strength to his family, his follow- ers, disciples and students, He will forever stay in our hearts, and he will kindle our souls through his evergreen divine musical offerings which will be heard and remembered for centuries.