Jalal Chandio

Jalal Chandio was born to Haji Faiz Muhammad Chandio, who owned a large number of cattle. Jalal Chandio was not interested in academics and thus remained a shepherd during his younger days.

Chandio was fond of singing since childhood, but his parents sent him to the village of Nawan Jatoi to learn the profession of tailoring instead. Disheartened, he left tailoring to start singing.[2] His teacher was Fakir Ali Gul Mahar, who accompanied Chandio to almost all of his singing concerts. In 1973, Chandio began solo performances after receiving permission from his mentor.

He was an expert of yaktara & chapri (musical instruments).[3] His singing style made him popular among his fans.[4][5] He promoted the yaktara and chapri in Pakistani folk music.

A film Jalal Chandio was made in his lifetime in which Chandio played his own character.[6]

It is believed that Jalal Chandio released a thousand audio cassettes as well as ten thousand songs during his lifetime. Since he was unschooled, he would often memorize his own songs.[7] He was known as the king of Sindhi singers because he promoted Sindhi songs worldwide when media was not common. He had possessed enormous qualities and most importantly generosity. It was reported that he gave his buffalo to an old lady whose buffalo was stolen.

Chandio was a spiritual disciple of Mahdi Shah of Shahpur Jehanian. He used to sing on Urs for almost all the saints out of his fondness for them.[8] He had an affiliation with the famous Sindhi Poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and therefore he performed on his many of his urs.

He received several awards in his country and beyond. In 1999, the provincial Government of Sindh's Department of Culture and Tourism recognized Jalal's contribution to singing and awarded him the 'Latif Award'. Among the many awards that Jalal received, one came from the local Sindhi music maestro Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan, for his dedication to the profession.[9]

During the beginning of 2000, Chandio became ill due to kidney failure and was admitted to Liaqat National Hospital Karachi before being discargched after one month of treatment. During his admission to the hospital, the then Culture Secretary Hameed Akhond supported him and provided a TV for seeing cricket in his hospital room. In December 2000, he felt pain again in his kidney and was shifted to Hyderabad and then later to SIUT Karachi for proper medical treatment. Doctors advised that he was suffering last stage kidney failure and that he needed blood on a daily basis. He died on 10 January 2001 at about 1030 hours at SIUT Karachi.