Lata Mangeshkar gets herself a Jain tutor

By Subhash K. Jha -

July 7, 2014 - 10:00 AM IST

Lata Mangeshkar gets herself a Jain tutor

It is never too late to learn. The self-declared life-long student of music, Lata Mangeshkar at age 84 has got a linguistic teacher.

This is for an album of bhajans and chants for the Jain community that she has recorded. Never one to take risks with her diction and pronunciation for any song or album in any of the regional languages, Lataji had a tutor in the Jain language to guide her through all the traditional devotional chants.

The process was time-taking.

But the end-results are flawless.

A member of the Mangeshkar family reveals that notable representatives of the Jain community have congratulated the Nightingale for her impeccable pronunciation.

Says Lataji, "It wasn't easy, I can tell you that. But getting the pronunciation and diction absolutely right has always been important for me. Early in my career I had got myself Sanskrit and Urdu teachers who would come to my recordings at studios to sit and teach me the languages during the breaks. Years later when I recorded the Bhagavat Gita for my brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar I hired another Sanskrit teacher to make sure that I got the nuances correct."

Lataji says doing album for the Jain community was a special challenge. "Somewhere they felt that their religious teachings and mantras have so far not been properly articulated. I am happy and relieved that they think my rendition does justice to their sacred teachings."

Lataji feels it's very important to be a 100 percent correct in articulating religious and spiritual thoughts. "Centuries of thoughts go into these teachings. One can't be careless with religious sentiments. I am happy to learn languages through my singing and to polish up my diction. Every artiste remains a student all her life. I am no exception."