Soulful melodies from a ghazal-bhajan specialist

B'luru's own Jagjit

His soulful voice and singing style remind one of late ghazal singer, Jagjit Singh. With over 1,500 performances to his credit, 67-year-old Kishan Dalmia is sought after at private mehfils in the city. His latest performance at Chowdiah Memorial Hall received widespread appreciation.

As he rendered ghazals of famed singers such as Jagjit Singh, Ghulam Ali and Mehdi Hasan at the packed Chowdiah Hall recently in the city as part of the ‘unforgettable ghazals’ programme, the audience craved for more. A resident of Sadashivanagar, Dalmia has been giving performances in the last 20 years.

A post-graduate in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, he has been learning ghazals from the tender age of seven. It all started when he listened to ghazals of Talat Mahmood in the 1960s and got influenced by him.

“I was mesmerised by Mahmood’s singing style and listening to ghazals had a calming effect on me. I started learning it along with Hindustani music and bhajans during school days. I went on to learn playing of musical instruments such as harmonium, sitar, guitar and harmonica,” Dalmia said. He gave his first ghazal performance on December 31, 1995 at a hotel in the city and there has been no looking back since then.

From large public shows at corporate and recreational clubs to special audiences with global dignitaries, Dalmia has done it all. For the last 10 years, he has been learning ghazals from Hindustani classical vocalist Harikrishna Pahwa. Born in Gwalior, he shifted to Bengaluru in the late 70s and is now an entrepreneur. He dedicates one hour of the day at least to learn ghazals. According to him, the city has an eclectic music scene. “However, the demand for ghazals has dipped with karaoke, old hindi songs and modern music surfacing,” he said.

Dalmia feels that to enjoy ghazals, one needs to understand the lyrics of the composition and the ambience should be silent.

If not ghazals, one can listen to his bhajans every Tuesday at Shree Rani Sati Dadi Mandir, Domlur.