Vajpayee to live on in Pt. Jasraj’s music: Author

Mumbai: Late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a connoisseur of poetry and music, was a fan of the 88-year-old Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj and gave him the moniker, “Rasraj” of “king of rasas”. Pandit Jasraj disclosed this during the recent launch of his authorised biography, “Rasraj: Pandit Jasraj” in the US, informed author Sunita Budhiraja.

Pandit Jasraj told the audience that it was Vajpayee who first called him Rasraj. “That was the upadhi (title) that Pandit Jasraj loved the most,” informed Ms Budhiraja.

The author also said that Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, noted Hindustani classical musician and santoor player, told her that of all his accolades, “Rasraj” was the one he liked the most.

“Vajpayee lives through the music of Pandit Jasraj and the title of my book,” said Ms Budhiraja.

While at AIIMS, Vajpayee listened to poetry and old film music on AIR FM Gold radio station, she said.

The 534-page book has incidents and anecdotes from Pandit Jasraj’s life and journey from being a tabla-player to a renowned vocalist of the Mewati gharana.