Lata leaves her mark on music

Mumbai: Lata Mangeshkar, India's national treasure whose voice stirred millions of hearts every day for close to eight decades, died in a Mumbai hospital on Sunday. She was 92. As a flower-bedecked cortege went from Mangeshkar's Peddar Road home to Shivaji Park for the last rites, surging crowds of mourners walked or jogged along, many thousands lined the 10-kilometre route and millions tuned into their screens -- to say goodbye to the woman who had been an integral part of their lives and to fuse into memory a moment in contemporary history.

Mangeshkar, whose name was written into legend long years before she took her last breath in Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital, had been in hospital since January 8 when she was diagnosed with Covid with mild symptoms. She was also diagnosed with pneumonia. The singer, one of India's most well known and well loved personalities, died at 8.12 am due to multi organ failure, her doctor Pratit Samdani said.

The government announced a two-day "state mourning" for Mangeshkar, who had a prodigious almost eight-decade career in which she sang an estimated 25,000 songs in as many as 36 Indian languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Kannada, and across classical and other genres. The national flag will fly at half mast from February 6 to February 7 throughout India. There will also be no official entertainment in this period.

The Indore-born Mangeshkar is survived by her siblings Meena, Asha, Usha and Hridaynath. Her coffin was draped in the tricolour and placed on the hearse draped in white flowers with a giant photograph of the singer known as "Nightingale of India", "melody queen" or "Lata didi" to so many. Sounds of "Lata Mangeshkar Amar Rahe" could be heard through the route. "… I'm just shattered that Didi, who has shaped my life and that if crores of others, is not anymore," said 60-year-old Savita Shah, one of the many who had gathered outside her home to pay their respects to the woman whose voice they woke up to, listened to as they went about their day and as they turned in for the night.

As millions mourned her and said thank you for your music, the tributes came pouring in with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading a heartbroken nation in remembering her. "Lata-ji's demise is heart-breaking for me, as it is for millions the world over. In her vast range of songs, rendering the essence and beauty of India, generations found expression of their inner-most emotions. A Bharat Ratna, Lata-ji's accomplishments will remain incomparable," the president said. The prime minister said he was "anguished beyond words". "The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people," he said in a tweet.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said she remained the "most beloved voice of India for many decades" and added that her immortal golden voice will continue to echo in the hearts of her fans. Considered one of the greatest playback singers in Indian cinema, Mangeshkar received several film awards and honours like Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Dada Saheb Phalke Award, and multiple National Film Awards.

The film world she had worked with for decades expressed their condolences too. "She has left us… The voice of a million centuries has left us… her voice resounds now in the Heavens! Prayers for calm and peace...," Amitabh Bachchan said in his personal blog.

Actor Waheeda Rehman, who danced to Mangeshkar's playback most memorably in "Guide" in "Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai", and "Piya tose naina laage re", said there was magic in her voice. "We shared a very friendly and warm relationship. She had such a beautiful voice and her songs will be remembered for years to come… Behind this magic was a lot of hard work and determination," Rehman told PTI.

Actor Shabana Azmi said, "Lataji ..our national treasure no more ..her voice lit up our lives , gave us solace when we were sad , gave strength when we were low..

Thank you Lataji and RIP." Manoj Bajpayee echoed many when he tweeted that a golden era of the music world has truly ended!.' Known as the Queen of Melody, Nightingale of India, and simply the legend, Mangeshkar started training in singing at the age of five. Her last song, presumed to be lost, was released last year in October, 79 years later. Mangeshkar's unforgettable songs include 'Lag Jaa Gale', 'Mohe Panghat Pe', 'Chalte Chalte', 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram' , 'Ajeeb Daastaan Hai', 'Hothon mein aisi baat', 'Pyar kiya to darna kya', 'Neela asman so gaya', 'Pani Pani Re'. Such was the pull of her voice that Bade Ghulam Ali sahab, a musician that Mangeshkar greatly admired, is believed to have said that "Kambakhq kabhi besuree hee nahee hoti (She can never be out of tune)". Many, including some the biggest musicians and actors,equated her voice with that of 'goddess Saraswati'.