Alvida, Wajid Bhai, You Will be Missed, A Kidney Transplant & A Shift Of Hospital Killed Wajid

Wajid  Khan ,better known as  the genial  affable gentle and polite  one-half of the Sajid-Wajid  duo, passed away . This is the first Corona death  of  a person I knew personally, and liked immensely.

Wajid was always kind gentle caring. The last we spoke was in the  first week of November 2019  when the Dabangg  song  rendered  by Ustad  Rahat Fateh Ali Khan  had to be  re-recorded  with an Indian singer . Wajid had  just recovered  from a serious illness . But he  inquired my health as if  I was the  ailing one  between the two  of us.

As  for replacing  the Pakistani singer  Wajid,  a true Indian,  said,  “This decision was  unanimous. When it comes  to the  country,  nothing  else matters. We  would be  willing to sacrifice even  our lives  to  protect  our country. How does sacrificing a  singer  matter? And we don’t even see  it a  sacrifice.”

Many  of  the people he worked closely with did  not  like  me. But that didn’t colour Wajid’s judgment against me. Always warm and respectful,it’s hard believe Wajid who was observing Ramzan till the last week and  waiting every day  to break his fast with his Mummy’s yummy food, is  now gone.

Says  singer Aditya Narayan  emotionally , “I’ve lost a big brother. He  lived just a few buildings away from  me. So we  constantly  bumped  into one another. Wajid Bhai  was  the kind of person who would  be standing next to you when you were in trouble. Dependable and lovable, you would see him dancing at parties, loving every  sip of life.”

Says the popular veteran  ghazal, bhajan and  film singer Hariharan, “It is so sad .Wajid passed away  so suddenly! Very unfair  I knew him . He had a charismatic smile .Everybody liked him .I sang for them .His father, the  well-known  Tabla player  Ustad Sharafat  Ali Khan  was a friend to me .Wajid’s  father   was a tabla Nawaz .We used to travel with Asha Bhosleji’s troupe .This was in 80’s.”

 A  fortnight  back Hariharan and  Wajid had collaborated over a song.

 Says  Hariharan, “19 days back I sang an anthem ,a Covid initiative for his brother Sajid .Sajid was saying Wajid was not well but he is recovering and he said he would be well .ALAS !things took a turn for the worse  and he passed away .He was very hard working .You could see the purity of Wajid’s soul when he used to talk to kids in  the reality show .He brought a smile to us the audience while watching the show .He was an infectiously sweet person .”

Composer  Lalit Pundit (of Jatin-Lalit) says Wajid’s health  was precarious ever since a  kidney  transplant.  “There was a lot of  talk  for the last few days amongst the industry folks regarding Wajid going onto a ventilator!We all knew he had lots of health problems and ever-increasing since the last 4 month,.with a kidney failure and a transplant .He was also a high diabetic .Unfortunately he changed his hospital from Jaslok to somewhere else in Goregaon where it seems he caught he deadly corona virus.This took his health   from bad to worst as he was diabetic and low on immunity .”

 Lalit remembers  Wajid as a  truly  likeable  soul . “Wajid was a friendly human being and was indeed the backbone composer of the team Sajid-Wajid.He was hard working and did his best in the music that he gave with his elder brother Sajid.we shared the Filmfare award  for Dabangg 1 as Munni badnaam garnered all the awards that year in 2010/11.”

Lalit and  Wajid were cricket buddies. “We shared  very friendly relations and we used to together organise cricket matches between the singer fraternity,and composer in the winters.I had,a few months ago called him regarding his health issues.He was not keeping well.To make him feel positive and upbeat,I proposed a cricket match again  this coming winter.We spoke about other things and not much about his health as it was depressing for him,  I felt.He indeed was a fun -loving person.It is unfair to see him go at such an early age.”