Jasmeet’s soul searching takes her to Sufi melodies

The Times of India Shariq MajeedShariq Majeed, TNN | May 28, 2012, 04.39AM IST   SARABHA NAGAR: From running a successful linen manufacturing business to being a Sufi singer and writer, Jasmeet Kaur Kukreja has traversed many a spiritual journey in her life of 50 years. With an audio CD and a short story book to her credit already, Jasmeet will soon release her second audio CD and book. Industrialist Baldev Singh Kukreja's wife, Jasmeet says, ''I had a successful linen manufacturing unit for 11-12 years which was set up in 1991. When I quit that business due to some reasons, I got a lot of beneficial time for my personal and spiritual progress.'' She adds, ''Until 2004, I didn't know much of Sufism, or of 'Ishq-e-Majazi' (Worldly love) and 'Ishq-e-Haqiqi' (Love for God). The urge to pen down my spiritual thoughts came from within and I wrote around 150 'nazms' (poetic works). Since I used to sing with a symphony group, I began to sing my own poems.'' Besides Sufi poems, she also writes on various other issues in Hindi and Punjabi. In 2007, her first short story book on women 'Ik Chitti Apneyaan De Naan' (A Letter For My Own) was published and her first music CD 'Harjiyo Kripa Karo' a shabad, was released the same year. ''My second book 'Chamkan Taarey' (Twinkling Stars) will be released in a few months while the second music CD of Sufi songs would also be released in another 2-3 months, says Jasmeet, who has learned singing from Guru Chaman Lal Bhalla. The Sufi singer has also treated audiences at live concerts such as 'Surmai Shaam' organized by Jagmohan Singh of Oscar Hosiery, Sufi show for military personnel in Dehradun and at DPS Ludhiana, at GGN Khalsa College, at Ramgharia Girls College and in various programmes on Jalandhar Doordarshan. Jasmeet has also received the Woman Achiever Award from a Mumbai-based firm and the Desh Sewa Rattan Award from a literary organization in Ludhiana. Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Hansraj Hans are her favourite Sufi singers while among the Sufi writers, she likes Bulle Shah, Shah Hussain and Sultan Bahu.