It has been rightly said that talent knows no boundaries. It is above discrimination, prejudice, ethnicity, culture and countries. There is no denying the fact that history is filled with megastars, singers and writers. We have had(Mega personalities never die)Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rajesh Khanna, Madam Nurjahan, Waheed Murad and many others. Truly, great people never die and always remain in their fans’ hearts after leaving this world. When a child is born, he/she weeps and cries but makes happy and brings endless smiles on their parents and grandparents’ faces. But few are born to weep the whole world when they depart from this mortal life and world. The demise of Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar comes as a shock to everyone, leaving her adherents in tears and woebegone. Making a room in someone’s heart is indeed an uphill task but few people succeed in achieving this honour and cherished Lata Mangeshkar was one of them.
Despite decades-old Pak-India enmity, she got fame, accolades from Pakistan as well as far-flung countries. She dominated billions of hearts of the people for seven long decades and they cherished her as being a singer of their own country. Many political and film industry personalities have expressed their deep condolences with a dismal note like Prime Minister Imran Khan, Shehbaz Shareef, Maryam Nawaz and some said, ‘A huge loss for the Indian film fraternity.
She was born in Indore on September 28, 1929, started singing at a very young age and became, quite simply, the most popular playback singer in Bollywood’s history. She was the daughter of Dinanath Mangeshkar, the owner of a theatre company and a reputed classical singer. He started giving Lata singing lessons from the age of five, and she also studied with renowned singers Aman Ali Khan Sahib and Amanat Khan. She sang undoubtedly forty thousand plus mellifluous songs in multifarious languages and received the most prestigious awards and accolades from the whole world. The Guinness Book of World Records listed her as the most-recorded artist in the world with not less than 30,000 solo, duet, and chorus-backed songs recorded in 20 Indian languages between 1948 and 1987.
Today, the number of her songs have reached above forty thousand. In a video circulating on mainstream media after her crossing the bar in which she can be watched saying that Queen Nurjahan, Great Mehdi Hassan sahib and most popular Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan were her favourite singers. They had invariably been a source of immense inspiration and strength for her. Madam Nurjahan moved to Pakistan after the partition in 1947, this was the one reason for Lata Mangeshkar’s success as she did not have to vie with a superior voice. Her singing career was spanned for seven decades and three generations have grown up listening to her crooning voice and songs.
She died at the age of 92 in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. She had been diagnosed with covid-19, pneumonia and many other fatal diseases that caused her death. Many Indian actors, actresses and singers rushed to the hospital to pay their last respects to the legend melody Queen. She was laid to rest on Sunday evening with full state honours at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Mumbai to pay his last respects to India’s ‘swar kokila’.
Lata had a God-given talent. Her voice and songs have always been a great source of catharsis for those who remained deprived of getting true love. She was extremely accomplished in her singing that she made tour de force songs which are going to live long in the hearts of millions of people that are indelible. She was undoubtedly a worthy gem and gave many magnum Opus hit songs of her life to the world. Her passing away is a humongous loss for her family, Kith and kin and for her die-hard aggrieved adherents. She was extremely successful in inculcating her melodious voice through her mellifluous songs in the hearts of millions of people that are indelible. Her magnum opuses list includes (my all-time favourite) ‘lag jaa gale’,tere liye from the film ‘Veer Zaara’ and jiya jale.In short, the tiding of Lata Mangeshkar’s death moved me to tears. Great singers like her are not born in decades but in centuries rendering the world ecstatic as well as lugubrious after leaving this world. They die physically but not spiritually and leave many precious unforgettable memories for their families, friends and adherents. Truly, a golden epoch has come to an end. She will be remembered as being one of the greatest, cherished and prominent singers in the history of the music industry.
‘If music is the food of love, play on, said William Shakespeare in his play ‘Twelfth Night’.
