INDIA NEWS
Feb 16-28, 2022 - Vol 2, Issue 15
SPECIAL FEATURE
Lata Mangeshkar - An everlasting national treasure for India
NDTV.com
By DC Pathak When I was a teenager, my eldest brother, who was a poet at heart, once said 'Lata Mangeshkar was the best thing that happened to India'. That for the legend, Basant Panchmi turned out to be the last day of her life was in a way the ultimate tribute to her as the
musical appeal and civilisational heritage. That she was cremated with national honour with Prime Minister Modi personally appearing for her last rites, was a dignified gesture of a grateful nation. India has produced great sons and daughters but what is certain is that there would not be another Lata Mangeshkar for this nation.
singer with the 'gift of Saraswati' who would take the voice of India to all corners of the world. She was a Bharat Ratna who was also honoured with the Legion of Honour by France -- a country symbolising the best in European culture -- confirming the universality of Lata Mangeshkar's
This uniqueness is both about her singing talent as well as her persona as a star nationally respected as Lata Didi. Her story was a fabulous illustration of the journey of a self-made person who began with shouldering the responsibility of a large family as a teenager and through a rare self-belief, commitment to a value system and the unwavering devotion to the goal in her life, rose to become the 'Nightingale of India'. At the height of her fame, she lived a life on her terms, preserved her lively interest in cricket and cars and remained an embodiment of Indian womanhood in terms of generosity, innate wisdom that enabled her to be stable in success and a healthy interest in the state of the nation. What would remain unchanged about her was her white 'sari', a red 'bindi' and the two braids. It is remarkable that as a legend she carried this image of purity till the end in an effortless way. Her memory will always inspire respect, affection and admiration for her singing genius. Talking of her fame as a playback singer, there is no doubt that the haunting initial four lines of the famous song ‘Ayega Aanewala’ rendered without a rhyming tune - 'Khaamosh Hai Zamaana' - established the unparalleled
beauty of her singing. Some of the greatest songs of the genre of impactful sadness sung by Lata Mangeshkar include ‘Mushkil Hai Bahut Mushkil’, ‘Ye Zindagi Usi Ki Hai' and ‘Tum Na Jane Kis Jahan Me Kho Gaye’. Of the melodious tunes, songs like ‘Bande Mataram’ of ‘Anand Math', ‘Jago Mohan Pyare' of ‘Jagate Raho' and ‘Gaaye Chalaja' of ‘Hamlog’ will remain in memory. And of course there are immortal romantic duets like ‘Pyar Hua Ikarar Hua Hai’, ‘Kitana Hasin Hai Mausam’ and ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne Kahan Ho Tum' with Manna Dey, Chitalkar and Hemant Kumar. Some youthful songs of lilting tunes have their own place for the fans- ‘Jiya Bekarar Hai’, ‘Thandi Hawaein’ and ‘Kare Badara Tu Na Ja Na Ja’. And of course, Lata Mangeshkar sang a number of songs totally based on classical music such as ‘Thare Rahiyo’, ‘Raina Beeti Jaye’ and ‘Preetam Daras Dikhao’ directed by Ghulam Mohammad, RD Barman and Madan Mohan. One can have a collection of her songs including duets for a spell of soothing music of one's choice. Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar's greatness lies in her exceptional contribution to national unity through her art and influence -bringing together Indians of all communities, classes and regions as her fans. She represented at the highest levels the universal beauty of Indian music rooted in our tradition and quickly became the cultural ambassador of India in distant lands beyond the subcontinent or the diaspora. That she was totally apolitical reinforces the civilisational strength of India which has to be preserved and fostered for the interest of all countrymen.
By DC Pathak
The message of culture does not need a language and supersedes the lesser divides inflicted in the name of religion, language and ethnicity by politically motivated elements. Lata Mangeshkar leaves behind a legacy of how our national icons must carry forward India's image and prestige in the world outside and thus contribute to the nation's strength and standing as a promoter of universal peace and human welfare. Cultural nationalism unites people at home and does not create conflict with the world outside- religion represents differing modes of worship but provides an input to culture that helps to socially unite people. It is the projection of religion into politics - mostly the doing of community leaders of the minorities - that induces divisiveness and impedes national unity. Lata Mangeshkar united India in a manner that was as effective as it was subtle and sublime. (The writer is a former Director of the Intelligence Bureau)
Lata Mangeshkar, India's singing Goddess New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS): For nearly eight decades, Lata Mangeshkar defined Hindi film music. Diminutive, Indore-born Lata was literally nurtured in music. Her father Dinanath Mangeshkar ran a theatre company and later did music concerts. So, a two-year-old Lata would sit by her father's side while he did his daily 'riyaaz'.
By the time she was five, she would warble abhangs and other songs from her father's repertory of classical and traditional songs. Lata was the eldest of the five Mangeshkar siblings -- Asha, Meena, Usha and Hridaynath. Incidentally all would grow up and make a name for themselves. Unfortunately, after some professional disasters, Dinanath died leaving the family destitute in 1942. All the responsibility fell on 13-year-old Lata. She had appeared in bit roles till then but now she needed more work. Family friend Master Vinayak (father of actress Nanda) came forward to help. He helped the
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young Lata get her a break in friend Vasant Joglekar's film Kittie Ha Saal in 1942. She started working in Master Vinayak's company, Navyug Chitrapat.
Kumar, too, got his break in this film). 'Ziddi' was followed by 'Buzdil', both in 1948. and in 1949, the superhit 'Aayega Aanewala' in 'Mahal'.
In 1945, this company moved to Mumbai and the young Lata followed too. While the initial days were of tremendous struggle, Lata started learning classical music under Ustad Aman Ali Khan of the Bhindi Bazaar Gharana.
This Kamal Amrohi film had music by Khemchand Prakash. Lata's rise to the top thereafter was swift.
In 1946, she got her first Hindi film in Vasant Joglekar's 'Aap Ki Seva Mein' (1945). She kept on doing an odd song or the other until Master Ghulam Haider (better known as the composer of Kamal Amrohi's 'Pakeezah') became her mentor and got her a job in Bombay Talkies and her first hit was in 'Majboor' in 1948 where Ghulam Haider gave the music. Haider also got her to improve her Urdu diction. In 1948, she got her big breakthrough in 'Ziddi' from Bombay Talkies, starring Dev Anand and Kamini Kaushal, with music by S.D. Burman (Kishore
She soon became the default choice as the playback singer for most leading ladies and composers. Once Bade Ghulam Ali Khan said about her "Kambakth kabhi sur nahin chhodti" -- damn, she never drops a note. From the Fifties to the Eighties, Lata delivered hundreds of hit songs under various composers. She was the first choice of filmmakers such as Mehboob Khan, V. Shantaram, Bimal Roy, Raj Kapoor, the Anand brothers, (Chetan, Dev and Vijay), Raj Khosla, Yash Chopra, Amiya Chakravarty and L.V. Prasad. Let us not forget this was the golden age of Hindi film music with composers such as Anil Biswas, Naushad, S.D. Burman,
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Khemchand Prakash, C. Ramchandra. Shanker-Jaikishen, Roshan, Madan Mohan, Khayyam, Salil Chowdhury, Vasant Desai, Hemant Kumar, Ravi, KalyanjiAnandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, and later Rajesh Roshan, Bappi Lahiri and Anu Malik. Poets such as Sahir, Shailendra, Majrooh, Shakeel, Kaifi, Indeevar and Anand Bakshi were also among some of the most talkedabout individuals. Among the singers, we had Suraiya, Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, Shamshad Begum and Suman Kalyanpur, among women, and Mohamad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Talat Mehmood and Manna Dey. Lata Mangeshkar was the voice most heard and liked in India.
Lata Mangeshkar never married, though there were whispers about her liaisons with C. Ramachandra, Raj Kapoor, Jaikishen, and an extended close friendship with cricketer-prince Raj Singh Dungarpur. Such was her respect that such innuendo never impacted her
image. She would come to the studio dressed in exquisite white sarees with a prominent bindi carrying a thermos of warm water. Rarely would she ask for a cup of tea.
She did not socialise much and spent most of her time with her family, doting on her mother and nieces and nephews. Cricket and photography were her favourite hobbies, and she could whip up a mean dinner if required I got to know her in my early days in Navketan, but came closer to her once I turned a lyricist n 1973. In fact she sang the first song I wrote 'Dur Dur Tum Rahe', for which she got the West Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award. Over time, she got fond of me partly because I was the youngest writer of lyrics and partly because of the language, which was a little different from the conventional Hindi/Urdu used in film songs. It was only after a couple of years of working together that she opened up.
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