Shardhanjali: Mata Bhagat Legendry Narinder Chanchal Ji

Hindi Club of Illinois (HCL) mourns the death of a Popular bhajans and devotional songs singer Narendra Chanchal who passed away on Friday, January 22 in New Delhi. He was 80 years old.The Condolence meeting scheduled for Sunday January 31 was postponed due to extreme bad weather. It is now rescheduled for first week February on Sunday 6 2021 at the Ganesh temple in Chicago, with expected participation of all Bhajan lovers in Chicagoland.Chanchal was born in a religious Punjabi Hindu family in Namak Mandi, Amritsar on October 16, 1940 and was one of the eight brothers and sisters. He grew up in a religious atmosphere, which inspired him to start singing bhajans and aartis from an early age.Since playing music at home was considered a taboo, as a child he would sing film songs and bhajans among his friends and women outside in the neighborhood. He would then return home – invariably to his angry parents. A schoolteacher gave him the name Chanchal, which stuck with him through out his life.He dropped out of school after 10th grade and worked at a dry cleaner’s shop for a while. Since there was no radio or gramophone at home, Chanchal, craving for music, would go to a nearby shop and sit there for hours listening to Mohammad Rafi and Manna Dey songs on radio. He would memorize these songs and present them at the next available opportunity at various gatherings.