As we in the UK were waking up on Sunday 6th February, news filtered through that the Nightingale of India had left us all. Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan Smt Lata Mangeshkar Didi ji took her last breath after giving the world seven decades of the most melodious and timeless music.
She sang a song in the movie ‘Mamta’ in 1966 titled ‘Rahe na rahe hum’. How apt given Lataji became the maternal (Mamta) figure in Bollywood and wider afield. The first few lines of the song encapsulate this moment in time:
Rahe na rahe hum mahakaa kareN.ge
(Whether or not I am here, this fragrance will remain)
Banke kali banke sabaa baagh-e-wafaa mei.N
(As if a flower, as if a breeze in our devoted garden)
Thousands of very enlightened individuals have paid tributes and given their memories of Lataji. In this publication, you will read many more. She touched our hearts, more than we thought possible. She expressed for us every human emotion we feel and go through in our lives.
She is with us when we are patriotic and sing, ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo’. Lataji sang more than 30000 songs in more than 20 languages. Songs that help us to express every feeling, every thought, and every moment in time. Songs such as:
Lag Jaa Gale (Woh Kaun Thi)
Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai (Shor)
Kabootar Jaa Jaa Jaa (Maine Pyar Kiya)
Pyaar Hua Iqrar Hua Hai (Shree 420)
Main Chali Main Chali (Professor)
Aaja Piya Tohe Pyaar Doon (Baharon Ke Sapne)
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…)
Dil Pukare Aare Aare (Jewel Thief)
Jo Wada Kiya (Taj Mahal)
Yeh Samaa, Samaa Hai Ye Pyar Ka (Jab Jab Phool Khile)
Kora Kaagaz Tha Ye Man Mera (Aradhana)
Gata Rahe Mera Dil (Guide)
Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa (Aandhi)
Chalte Chalte Yunhi Koi Mil Gaya Tha (Pakeezah)
Phoolon Ka Taaron Ka (Haré Rama Haré Krishna)
Chanda Hai Tu (Aradhana)
Satyam Shivam Sundaram (Satyam Shivam Sundaram)
The list is endless. I can give you names of another hundred songs that are dear to me, and that would only scratch the surface.
As a Gujju I would of course like to point out that her mother, Smt Shevanti ji Lad was in fact from Gujarat. Lataji’s silent demeanour hid a steely patriotic backbone. When she sang ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo’, it was more than just a song to her. She maintained her heritage and was not afraid, even whilst being in the middle of Bollywood, to express her sentiments with that soft but firm voice. Who can ever forget her rendition of, ‘Vande Mataram’. In 2013, at the opening of a Super Speciality Hospital in Pune, she said, “I pray to God that we see Narendra Bhai as PM”. And in 2014 God answered her prayers.
In the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “I am anguished beyond words. The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people.”
For me, it’s a celebration of a life. A life that did everything, gave everything and left a mark on this earth that will stand the test of time.
Rahe na rahe hum mahakaa kareN.ge, Banke kali banke sabaa baagh-e-wafaa mei.N.
My Koti Koti Pranams to the Nightingale of India, the Voice of the Millennium and the Queen of Melody. On Shanti Shanti Shanti.
