Veteran Singer Jagjit Kaur passes away at 93

Veteran singer Jagjit Kaur passed away on August 15, 2021, at the age of 93 due to multiple organ failure.

The wife of late music composer Khayyam had been in hospital for 15 days after her oxygen levels dropped.

Raj Sharma is the former manager of Khayyam. He said:

“She was not keeping well for the last 15 days.

“Her oxygen level had dropped and her organs were also giving up so we had to admit her to the hospital.

“She passed away this morning.”

He went on to say that he performed Jagjit’s last rites as Khayyam had instructed. Raj continued:

“Khayyam saab was the one who brought me to Mumbai in 1975.

“I owe everything I achieved today to him and he had told me, if anything happens to him I will have to take care of Jagjitji, which I did.”

He added: “They had lost their son in 2012 and after Khayyam saab’s death, she had lost interest in life and was not fighting to survive.

“Here in the hospital too, I could only see tears running down her cheeks when she held my hand.”

Jagjit Kaur is known for singing the likes of ‘Tum Apna Ranjo Gham Apni Pareshani’, ‘Kaahe Ko Byahi Bides’ and ‘Pehle to Ankh Milana’.

She married Khayyam in 1954 and it was one of the first inter-communal marriages in the Indian film industry.

After their son’s death, Jagjit and Khayyam set up the Khayyam Jagjit Kaur KPG Charitable Trust in order to support aspiring artists and technicians in India.

Khayyam’s caretaker Yogesh, who lived with Jagjit for the last two years, said he still feels her presence.

“Her condition in the last 15 days had deteriorated and her recovery was looking difficult.

“She was like my grandmother, my wife and I took care of her. I was there with her and made sure that nobody troubled her.

“My first child was born after Khayyam saab passed away and Jagjitji was so happy to see my child.

“She would hold her and say, ‘Had Pappaji been alive, he would have been happy’.

“I wished she lived longer although her health was not good but I didn’t sense that she had given up on life.”

Raj Sharma explained what will happen to the awards and assets following Jagjit’s death.

He said: “The trust will decide whether we keep the house and shift all the trophies and other memorabilia to one place.

“If nobody claims it, I will keep all his trophies with me right next to his photograph that I have in my house.”