- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Pooja Shrivastava
AN Indian musician known for befriending the Beatles during their magical mystery trip in Rishikesh in India more than half a century ago has died aged 88.
Ajit Singh was one of the few locals in Dehradun, India, whom the band befriended when the Fab Four spent some time at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s retreat in northern India, seeking spirituality, new experiences and refuge from Beatlemania back home.
Recalling his meeting with the band during a 2019 interview, Singh said had met the Liverpudlians when they wandered into his shop after being pursued by a crowd outside, after which he “invited them home for tea.”
He also claimed to fix Lennon’s guitar and performed at Harrison’s 25th birthday party.
“They were very polite with me, they were not haughty or something,” he said during the interview in the shop that he still ran half a century later.
The group returned to London with 30 new songs, most of which ended up on the White Album in 1968.
Singh’s death was confirmed by a local journalist who himself is at the forefront of restoring the rundown former ashram in recent years, saying Singh loved to recount his old stories about the Beatles.
An accomplished musician in his own right, Singh was one of the top-graded artists on All India Radio and among the few people in India who could play the vichitra veena, a traditional Indian string instrument.
