While driving last morning to a suburb for an errand, my husband mentioned that Lata Mangeshkar is extremely ill. By the time we returned, the internet broke the news of her departure. I felt a lump in the throat. An era ends.
A day after Basant Panchami! She was indeed an embodiment of everything associated with the ‘Goddess’.
Our generation, who had radio as a passion and not as a fashion, will surely remember growing up along with her voice. Though she was a generation older than me, hers was a voice embedded deep within me and millions like me, transcending geographical boundaries and temporal parameters. Her innumerable songs in numerous languages, riding all nine moods (‘Rasas’) of the human psyche, will always be celebrated forever, across the globe.
She started early and lasted long, by sheer brilliance but also with diligence, dedication grit and determination, to offer the absolute best that metamorphosed mediocre compositions into respectability and in brilliant compositions, she was divine.
She sang with all the stalwarts of Indian music industry, with classical exponents of giant stature and held her uniqueness. She sang for most film directors and all recording companies, but then she essentially sang for the nation. Her songs made us smile coyly, pine for the beloved, treasure the depths of sadness, and laugh our heart out in sheer joyfulness. She had duets with all male/female leading singers who were her seniors, contemporaries and many juniors too, who were fortunate to have shared the recording studio or the stage with her. She inherited music from her father Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar and then passed it on to so many of us, who are her true beneficiary.
The story of her life makes the most interesting read. Born to an extremely talented but little wayward theatre actor-singer father, who struggled to make a reasonable living, young Lata took over the financial responsibility of the family of three sisters and one brother, rather early. She found that using her god-gifted talent wisely could to be the only way out of the abject poverty. She honed her talent with hours of tireless practice (‘riyaz’) and when opportunity knocked, she accepted every challenge, rising to the occasion every time.
She refused to take it easy ever in her life even when she was at the peak, and continued her strict regimen to better herself every day. Resultantly, she could never be dethroned from her position of supremacy. Even the best amongst the contenders were a distant second. Many a person with remarkable talent gets washed away with complacency after initial success or lack the perpetual thirst to excel. Her story is indeed incredible. It is not the divine gift that one is bestowed with but what one does with it that determines the path to the summit. The story of her life’s struggles and the subsequent success is recommended an essential read for the younger generation.
The voice of the millennium is silent forever. Her fans like I will always hope for more but her place in the plethora of greats is assured. Teri Aawaz hi Pehchan Hai Lata Tai, salutation to thee.
‘Bhagawati Bharati Devi Namastute.’
Professor Indrani Bhaduri is Head, Educational Survey Division, NCERT, New Delhi. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
