Aise kyon hota hain Lataji? 
By Molly, May 19, 2007 - 08:35 IST
Aise kahin baar hua hain. Aise phir bhi baar baar, kahin baar kyon hota hain?
Aise bachpan se lekar budaape tak hota aa raha hain. Aise phir bhi baar baar lagatar honeka dil kyon karta hain, dil kyon betab rahta hain, dil kyon ek nanhe se bachche ki tarah tarastha
lalchaata or lehraata bhi hain? Aise sab, a sab kyon hota hain jab bhi main Bharat Ratna, Saraswati Devi, Lata Mangeshkar ko dekhta hoon, dekhta hi rahta hoon, sooonta hoon aur soonthe
hi jaata hoon, subhah se, din bhar aur kabhi kabhi raatbhar? Aise sirf swarlata, swar ki rani, suron ki devi ke saath hi kyon hota hain mere saath?
And I am not alone, main akela hi nahi hoon, kahin hazaaro lakho, karodo hain saare jaha mein jo unke dhoon mein jeeye ja rahe hain, pagal diwane, poore nashe mei. Aur khabi khabi soch ke
kaamp jata hoon, maan ko manata hoon ki aisa hota hain lekin maan, taan aur dhandkan bol uththe hein ki nahi woh agar nahi hoti aa jaha aisi jahaan mein ho hi nahi sakti.
Tell me why does the air try to sway smoothly with a lilting sound of ghungroons in her delicate feet? Tell me why does the wind not misbehave or turn mean or blow widely when she is
around? Tell me, why do the sun, the moon and the star stand still, lost in a trance and even a dance at times when she is around? Tell me why do the leaves stop stirring and the trees bow in
reverence when she is around? Tell me why do all the sounds including the chants and bell in holy places fade into silence when they hear her voice? Tell me, why do even the choirs of
angels singing in heaven stop singing for God and plead with him to listen to the greatest voice created by Him and God smiles and listen to his singer, his own Lata on earth?
No, this is not poetry, my friends, what will my ordinary poetry add to the glory of Lataji? No, this is not an attempt made by me at four in the morning to sing the praises or sin by flattering
Lataji, what will several lives of singing about her and flattering her do to a woman who I confess gives me the feeling that divinity in man. I am lucky we are all blessed to have that divine
being with us; we have our own Lata Mangeshkar.
Thoughts, thoughts and more thoughts after spending some time in her presence after she descended at the Ajivasan Auditorium Vasantotsav to be conferred the Uttam Vagyagayakar Jialal
Vasant award for her in incomprehensible to the mind contribution to music (which human being who has heard her singing or even heard about her can deny this fact which makes life
worth living?) the queen of song has stop receiving award a long time ago. She has received more than her share and in all kinds of music. She was not capable of receiving this awards she
told the organizer but was accepting it because of her great respect for one of the greatest classical singer, Acharya Jialal Vasant after whom the award was named and because of Suresh
Wadkar, another young but brilliant son of music. The atmosphere, the ambience and the applause was once again proof to my description of what means to be when you have Lata
Mangeshkar around. A cash price of rupees one lakh and a silver brick weighing 1.5 kg with an inscription was presented to her by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh.
The money I am sure will go to some donation or to her own hospital in Pune, the silver brick will add to the crowd of the mementoes at Prabhu Kunj, her residence but it was the love and
affection of the people which will stay on with her and become a part of her and make her life richer. She was modest in saying that she was not capable of being the company of the previous
recipients of the award, maestros like Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Dr. Balamuralikrishna, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Ramnarayan and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. She lauded
their genuine contribution to classical music and wished she could have followed her father, Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar but it was till not too late. She was learning (learning at nearly
eighty!) and a specially recorded classical rendition by her which was screened on the occasion more than proved that she was in the process of learning.
In some off hand talk she came out with a revelation. She had some more than thirty thousand songs of all kinds (who will break this record when and how!). She said she had cut down on
the number of film songs and wanted something more exciting to do now (what can be more exciting than what he has already done!). She did sing some song for some recent films made in
Bhojpuri because it was a new experience and wondered whether they liked her singing (!) but what she is truly excited her compilation of “shlokas” why her brother Pandit Hridaynath
Mangeshkar who is considered a guru by all the singing Mangeshkar sister, and an album she is doing for T-series. The albums will be release some time in April or May. She may then
consider a song if at all Yash Chopra starts a film or will devote all her time to bring out some quality music which she feels she still has to give the world, she said as she smiled and walked
out of the auditorium and I could hear every classical instrument calling to her and pleading with her to stay on because they had not yet found the opportunities to be of use to her divine
voice.
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Rekha's life-changing experience with Lata Mangeshkar
