Om Shanti. I take this moment to thank God for giving Hindi/Urdu music fans Lata Mangeshkar. Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar who enthralled the world for 80 odd years has finally been called upon to sing for the one above. I am nowhere qualified to write this but at the same time, part of me like millions of others somewhere thinks we have lost the very melody that was associated with music.
Hindi/Urdu music fans across the world would throw in anecdotes for the various occasions in their lives which had numerous Lata didi memories. There won’t be anyone who ever listened to Hindi music can claim that they did not have a single occasion from their life where they had no Lata didi songs played. She had a repertoire of music that people have heard of only in fairy tales and her body of work despite retiring from singing almost couple of decades back has been so humongous that mere mortals can only dream of.
Lata Mangeshkar was rightly named the Nightingale of the Subcontinent. She was loved by everyone including the neighboring Pakistan. She had devoted herself to her family and music. For a little girl of 13, who had to take on the role of breadwinner as her father had left for the heavenly abode and she had five younger siblings to take care of. It is a different story that this turned out to be a family of jewels as all 6 siblings reached unprecedented heights in music, whatever the genre maybe. Her younger sibling Asha almost matched her step for a step and carved out her path. As the sibling rivalry was fueled by the media, other siblings decided not to follow suit and relegated themselves in background.
Lata didi never married and though she never discussed her personal life, this was also a devotion towards her profession that she sacrificed her childhood, her formative years for taking care of the siblings and keeping her father’s legacy alive and the only skill she had then was her music to take care of suddenly orphaned siblings. Her devotion was such that even the one above allowed her to take countless people of this world on the joyride like no other. Lata didi was always fiercely protective of her family and it was only befitting that she and her siblings lived on the same floor with their houses adjoining each other on the first floor of Prabhu Kunj in Peddar Road, Mumbai.
Lata didi was amongst the biggest fans of the Gentleman’s game cricket. She would not just watch but she knew the nuances of the game and though she did like to be on camera to talk about it, she would be there for every cause that could help cricket, including raising money for Team India when they won the world cup in 1983. Former cricketers would often mention her childlike enthusiasm when discussing the game and marvel at her ability to fathom the finer aspects of the game.
As said earlier, this is just a simple tribute to the millions others that will follow and my hands are trembling when I write about the voice that has defined my 51 years and when I look back and bring up the flash reels, you realize that hers was a voice which soothed you and put you to sleep, she was there when you had your heartbreaks from anything, she celebrated with you in your best moments, she helped ease the pain when you bid adieu to a near or dear one in your life and not just once but countless times. She has been that constant support, constant lifeline in your life when your mind needed a rejig. I am not qualified to even mention her laurels but, on this occasion, I can only tell God that you have taken away our collective voice from us. What Lata didi meant to people, I am not qualified to comment but if she didn’t mean something for you the problem lied within you.
There are Gods and there are Demi Gods who achieve the near worshipping status and if there was one, it was her. COVID has claimed countless lives, none bigger than Lata didi. She has now gone to bring her music to the supreme world and even though she has passed into ages, she has given us a portfolio of music that will continue to be played on continuous loop.
Thank You Lata Didi from all of us for all these years and giving us the memories and songs that will help us sail through. I don’t think God makes the ones like you anymore but we all will hope for a miracle which is what you were and if not, you have given us enough melodies to survive.
On the auspicious day of Basant Panchmi (at least in the US), the world lost the closest surviving thing to the Goddess Saraswati.
Om Shanti
