The songs composed by Ravindra Jain stands apart for their timeless classical quality. He never attempted to test the knowledge of his audience or the singers. He did not insist on any particular effort on the part of the listener to enjoy his songs. “You just sit relaxed, the song will greet you and eventually conquer you,” was his motto.
Ravindra’s simple and straight tunes reflected the humility and simplicity of his character. Songs like Jab deep jale aana, Tu jo mere sur mein and Aaj se pehle (all from Chitchor), Sunayana aaj in (Sunayana), Mujhe haq hai (Vivah), Oh.. goriya re (Naiyya), Ankhiyon ke (Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se), could make an impression with simplicity.
The fact that these songs were created by a man who was born blind always aroused curiosity among people. “All these tunes are rooted in nature. Even when I sit idle, the pristine sounds I hear in the surroundings touch my heart. I am just adapting them in my music,” Ravindra explained.
A life dedicated to music
Ravindra Jain was single-minded about his first and last love – music. However, he did not grab everything that came his way. In his career spanning about four-and-a half decades, he worked in just about 150 films. Apart from film music, Ravindra released a couple of albums, and composed music for epic television serials Ramayan, Jai Hanuman and Jai Sreekrishna.
Kadam milakar chalna hoga’ a poem written by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also set to tune by Ravindra and presented it in live shows along with the Gazals he composed. He also travelled across Europe and America and organised ‘Ravindra Jain Musical Night’ in over hundred venues. Ravindra Jain Academy of Music, was an innovative venture by him to make learning of all forms of Indian music easy and accessible for people across the globe. In a nutshell, music was the essence of Ravindra’s life.