Chitra Singh

Chitra Singh
Chitra Singh in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Chitra Shome^[1]
Also known as	Chitra Dutta
Born	(1940-04-11) 11 April 1940 (age 83) Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Genres	Ghazal, Classical, Devotional, Folk
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	1970–1990

Chitra Singh (née Shome)^[2] is an Indian ghazal singer. She, alongside her husband, Jagjit Singh, popularized the ghazal genre.^[3] Respectfully known as the "king and queen of the Ghazal world," the husband and wife duo created some of the most successful Indian music of the 1970s and '80s.

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Personal life

Chitra was born as Chitra Shome into a Bengali family. After completing her education, she was married to Debo Prasad Dutta, an executive in a leading advertising agency. The wedding was held in the mid-1950s, and the couple had a daughter, Monica, in 1959.^[4]

While still married to Debo Prasad, Chitra met Jagjit Singh, at that time a struggling singer. Jagjit Singh was of Sikh heritage and hailed from Sriganganagar in distant Rajasthan. They first met at a recording studio in 1967, by which time the marriage of the Duttas was already under strain for unknown reasons.^[5] Chitra found solace in Jagjit and says she was much taken by his "caring" personality. In 1968, Chitra left Prasad,^[6]^[7] taking her 9-year-old daughter with her. In 1969, she divorced her husband, secured custody of Monica, and married Jagjit Singh.^[8] The affair, the divorce and the wedding were disapproved of by their families and the couple were to have little contact with their kin thereafter. Chitra and Jagjit became the parents of a son, Vivek. Professionally, the couple formed a ghazal singing duo and the couple achieved great success.

Vivek died in a road accident on July 27, 1990. Chitra has never sung in public, or recorded any song, since the day her son died. Her daughter from her first marriage, Monica, first fell in love with Jehangir Chowdhary, an award-winning cinematographer. They were married in 1988 and became the parents of two sons. In 2005, Monica divorced Chowdhary and married British national Mark Houghton Roger Atkins, the managing director of a firm based in Vikhroli, Mumbai. In 2007, Monica filed a case of harassment against Atkins. In 2008, a magistrate issued a non-bailable warrant against him, but he had already fled the country. In 2009, Monica, aged 50, died by suicide.^[9] She was survived by her two sons, Armaan (17) and Umair (12).^[10]^[11] Two years after this incident, Jagjit Singh, died of a brain haemorrhage in 2011. Chitra now lives with her two grandsons.^[12]