Jugni

Afat Qiamat

Punjab  the land of the Sufis , the land  where its Heer,  Sahiban, Sohni  , not to mention  Dani Jatti , all  female characters and the list goes on and on,   make the folk lore .,

Where  Waris Shah  ,and  Bhulley Shah  dominate , along with  Data Ganj Bakhsh , then there is Mian Mir, Baba Farid, or  transcending the boundaries of religion  Guru Gobind Singh.

Where Bhangra, Luddi, Tappe, Dholki, rules.

Enter Jugni, an entirely revolutionary genre of music, never ever seen in any other culture. ..Jugni is a narrator , a female though  who wanders through various lands and then  sings her observations and  comments about the land, the people and the events she sees.

It always starts with

Jugni ja Varri…Calcutey

Jugni ja Varri    Lahore

Jugni ja Varri  Ludhiyaney….

…etc…..  As Jugni   reaches any specific place...

It might be a surprise for a few, that  Jugni is actually a  British Gift…!!

In 1906 , it was the  Jubilee year , of the Queen of England , and as  part of celebration ,  a torch was  Sent to the various parts of the British dominion  , including India.

This torch , then traveled to various places ,  to Punjabi  singers ,  Bhisna  Jutt and  Mohammed Manda  of  Hasanpur, Thana Vairowa, according to Pandit Diwan Singh were among the two  singers that were participating in those  Jubilee celebrations and singing  at the various  Melas .

Jubilee became Jugni, and it started a crazy following for Bhisna Jutt and Mohammed Manga.

Soon they separated themselves from the Official Celebrations and started singing revolutionary Ideas in the voice of Jugni.

This did not go well , with the British Government and  at  Gujranwala  on charges of rioting  both of them were  imprisoned , history has, they were killed  during  Police Interrogations , could not bear the  torture..

Today  Alam Lohar and then  his son  Arif Lohar are credited with the revival of this  unique genre of Punjabi music , which had a  short span  from  1906 to  1950’s .

Alam sang the first Jugni on PTV and then in a Film, making a remarkable comeback for this special genre of music.

Then it was Salem Javed , who re-revolutions it when he sang the  Techno version . since then it has not  looked back.

Lately , its is Rabbi Shergil of the  “ Bhulla Ki jana men koun “ fame  , who again sang a beautiful Jugni , and its  Rabbi’s  Jugni which  shows  the  revolutionary and political color  of Jugni , he sang that with reference to Kashmir .

Included are some videos, you tube videos link to the various versions and colors of Jugni.

Alam Lohar‘s Jugni which he sang in a Film:

Arif Lahar’s first and original Jugni he sang on PTV

Saleem Javed who revolutionized it with its techno version in 1993, along with Shabana Benjamin

Arif Lahar’s remix along with Mukhtar Sahota

Rabbi Shergils version

And last but not the least, the filmi comeback of Jugni, as sang by Harbajan Man

Jugni by Jasbir Jassi - audio:

…this along with at least two more tracks   in the film “ooye lucky, lucky Oye “   has Jugni in them.

 Conclusion

Let appreciate the diversity of cultures in our beloved Pakistan , and built it on, by acknowledging the interdependent among the various people living in it.