The Creator and His Creation, and the Creator and Her Creation: Tributes to Singh Kaur Khalsa
Amar Singh Khalsa, Bay Area CA, U.S.A.
Siri Ved Kaur Khalsa, Los Angeles CA, U.S.A.
Many years ago, the Siri Singh Sahib made a stopover in the St. Louis airport. The people from the ashram went out to meet him. While we were sitting and talking, the Siri Singh Sahib said to Singh Kaur, "I need you to put this to music and it has to be in this specific rhythm." He had a styrofoam cup in his hand so he started to tap out the rhythm. Singh Kaur looked at me and said, "Get this down," so I scribbled the rhythm onto the nearest sheet of paper I could find. The Siri Singh Sahib then turned to Bibiji and told her to give Singh Kaur the words. Bibiji pulled out her Nitnem and wrote down the words and translation to Rakhe Rakhan Har. The Siri Singh Sahib also said that he wanted it by the end of that week.
When we got home (it was Sunday), I put the rhythm on a drum machine. I went to work the next day, and when I got home, Singh Kaur said, "Listen to this." She had pretty much finished the version that is on tape. We started to work on an arrangement, and the next day she went to a studio and recorded guitar and vocals. The following day, I recorded the keyboard, harp and bass parts. Then Singh Kaur took the master tape to another studio to start mixing. On Friday, around dinner time, we heard a knock on the door. It was Singh Kaur and she had just come back from the studio. I asked her how the mix came out. I started to play the tape. She had done an absolutely masterful job of taking already divine words to another realm.
The first time I met Singh Kaur, she was barely 18 years old, sitting in the Maha Deva Ashram in Tucson. She had her guitar and was singing a version of "Oh, God Beautiful." I immediately invited her to play at an evening folk mass in the Catholic church across the street. She agreed, although at first she was so nervous she could hardly sing. From that time on, sing she did.
"I truly cherish the times that we worked together and will always be grateful for this blessing. She was able to take any poem or writing, English or Gurmukhi, and set it to music that was so right and natural. May her songs always heal and inspire!"
Siri Ved Kaur Khalsa, Los Angeles CA
Singh Kaur, who passed away recently, was diagnosed a little over a year ago with ovarian cancer. About a month before she died, she came and sang in Gurdwara in L. A., already quite frail. It was quite a moving experience to say goodbye to one who had touched our lives so deeply through her incredible gift of music.
The Siri Singh Sahib spoke of her the day after she passed. He spoke about how the truly great leave a legacy to be remembered for all time, and told the story about the creation of her timeless recording of Rakhe Rakhan Har with the heartbeat drum rhythm.
Her gift to the Earth was through her voice, which has brought, and will continue to bring, upliftment, ecstasy, and meditative experience to all those who are blessed to hear it. In spite of all the pain in her life, she continued to give, and was able to say goodbye gracefully. May she may ever be blessed to sit in the lap of Guru Ram Das and sing his praise. Wahe Guru.