Mumbai. India is a country of cultural heritage. Here faith in God has been going on for a long time. This is the reason that even today in many homes the day starts with the hymns of God early in the morning. In today’s digital era, the voices of dozens of bhajan singers are seen echoing here and there. But there was a time when film songs ruled the music industry.
During this period, a Yogi who came to India from Pakistan showed such charisma that film songs were seen biting the dust. The notes of the bhajans sung by him started resonating in the entire country. People all over the world including India would call him to listen to bhajans. But at the peak of his career, this singer fell in love with an American girl. This love became poison for his career and ruined his entire career. We are talking about India’s first bhajan emperor ‘Hari Om Sharma’.
Yogi who came from Pakistan got the title of first Bhajan Samrat
Hariom Sharma was born on 26 September 1932 in Lahore, present-day Pakistan. Hariom Sharma lived in the Hindu locality of Lahore. Here, Hariom Sharma used to start the morning with the darshan of fakirs and yogis. When we were little in childhood, whenever Fakir would come to the street, Hariom would also stand outside to listen to him. Since childhood, my faith in bhajans and devotional songs deepened. Hariom Sharma also used to keep his look like a yogi. After independence, Hariom Sharma came to India during the India-Pakistan partition. Here Hariom Sharma started singing bhajans.
After independence, during the India-Pakistan partition, Hariom came to India for refuge. Here Hariom Sharan started singing bhajans.
For a few years he kept singing bhajans in gatherings and spreading his fame. People started praising Hariom Sharma’s voice and her melodious bhajans. Then came the year 1973 and a music company named HMV signed him. Hariom Sharma sang dozens of songs with the company including Hanuman Chalisa, Ram Bhajan and these songs created a stir in the entire country. The magic of these bhajans and the melodious voice of Hariom Sharma started influencing people. People bought cassettes of his bhajans overnight and became mesmerized.
Film songs also bit the dust
These bhajans of Hariom Sharma left even the film songs in dust. People used to listen to Hariom Sharma’s bhajans instead of film songs. After these bhajans became superhit overnight, Hariom Sharma started receiving invitations to sing from abroad also. Not only this, the show used to become housefull just by the name of Hariom Sharma. People from America to Europe to India would call him and organize programs with his bhajans.
In the 70s, Hariom Sharma was invited to sing bhajans in Guyana city of America. When Hariom Sharma reached here, he saw that the auditorium was packed and people were standing and listening to the bhajan. In this program, Hariom Sharma met a new singer named Nandini.
Love and conflict with Nandini ruined his career?
Nandini was learning singing and had come here to sing in the chorus. It was here that Nandini became friends with Hariom Sharma and both fell in love. It was from here that Hariom Sharma’s career took a downturn. Nandini and Hariom got married after an affair for a few years and both started singing bhajans together. However, after some time, fights started between the two.
After this there was a storm in the lives of both of them. The fame that Hariom Sharma had achieved by singing hundreds of bhajans started coming under attack. Time passed and Hariom Sharma’s charm also started falling. The career of Hariom Sharma, known as India’s first Bhajan Samrat, came to a decline. After this, singers like Anup Jalota started making their name in the world of bhajans and thus the huge career of India’s first bhajan emperor came to an end. But even today, more than 100 bhajans of Hariom Sharma keep adding honey to people’s ears.
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FIRST PUBLISHED: April 9, 2024, 18:20 IST