THE IMMORTAL LATA MANGESHKARKunal Roy
She was born in the zodiac sign of Cancer. She was obstinate, ambitious, keenly interested in amassing wealth and above all loving by nature. She was Lata Mangeshkar, the pride of the entire universe. No other voice was as melodious as her. She was simply awesome and stood out of the crowd. Neither age nor custom could stale her infinite variety!
She began to sing at the age of thirteen. But at the very outset she had to suffer rejections as her voice was too thin and subtle for playback singing. Gradually the scenario changed and she got her first break in the movie "Mahal" in 1949. The haunting melody "Ayega Anewala" still makes the hair stand on our skin! It is worth mentioning that money always eluded her. She was paid a sum of three hundred rupees during the first five years of her career. Later for a longish span of fourteen years she was paid a meagre sum of rupees four hundred for a single record! It was in the seventies when she began her foreign tours, the Goddess Laxmi blessed her with pelf and property. And she was able to translate all her dreams into reality including two houses, one car and an inexhaustible bank balance! She became rich and her fame,money and wealth doubled!!
Initially she recorded three hundred songs followed by five hundred songs in a year! However, she managed to record just 150 songs in a year when her fame spread far and wide and touched the Himalayan tops! At 51 she cut innumerable discs to her credit. A place in the Guinness Book of World Records for more than 30,000 songs in 36 different languages matters the most!! On the other hand she won innumerable awards and appreciations including the highest Civilian award Bharat Ratna. Time is fleeting away but the sun of her fame will never set in the western part of the sky! It is really apt to quote the words of the singer Usha Uthup: "I shall never be able to song like you in the millions and millions of years". A simple confession!
But at this hour she is no more. The voice is no more. The Nightingale has forgotten to sing, to enchant with her mellifluous voice. She has left for the final abode, leaving behind innumerable memories on the sands of time. But legends are immortal. They are always alive in our soul. Age is just a number for them. The nation laments her demise. An irrevocable loss to the music industry. She will never come back again. No other singer will be able to render voice like her in the next hundred years. Saraswati blessed her with all the unique qualities of this human life. She has changed but not died. Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb she will arise and unbuild it again! A strong confession. An unwavering truth. An undeniable fact. A soulful acknowledgement!!
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