Lata Mangeshkar From my previous blog 'Random Expressions'

When I close my eyes, and sit back and reflect, and try to figure out what my earliest memories in this life are, the one voice that sways in with its melliflous lilt is that of Lata Mangeshkar. From the age of three to six we were in Sri Lanka due to my father’s assignment there. At that time, I recall vividly, my father and my eldest sister used to listen ardently to Radio Ceylon, especially Ameen Sayani’s brilliant programme Binaca Geet Mala ( yes, it was called Binaca at that time). They even used to record their favorite songs onto blank Sony Audio Cassettes – it had a green and black cover with space to list down the songs only on the inside and lasted for full ninety minutes. It was a different era, audio cassettes of films were not available, and you had to buy those huge LP records which were quite expensive. So recording from radio was an economical and better proposition. In any case, the sound clarity was tremendous ( I still have some of these cassettes!) and the presenters were more interested in playing the songs than flaunting their voices or advertisements as they do today. I would sit with them, and listen to all the film songs- papa recorded the older numbers, while my sister got hold of the newer ones – the ones that were hot and happening . “Ni sultana re pyaar ka mausam aaya” sung by Lata and Rafi was a hot favorite with us youngsters. It was during those innumerable and immensely pleasurable sessions that my affair with the voice of Lata Mangeshkar began.

I was completely and indisputedly mesmerised with this honey-sweet melodious and magnificent voice. And since those were her heydays, I got to listen to her a lot.

A few years later we came back to India; this was the time of the early eighties. Lataji was cutting down her assignments- though I did not realise it at that time, because there was always a constant flow of music from the ubiquitous green and black audio cassettes which had more than 80% songs sung by the diva. In fact, when my sister got married off, she dutifully re-recorded those cassettes onto fresh tapes ( by now Sony had come out with a newer and more flashy red design) and took them along with her as part of her dowry.

During this time I also realised that there was another voice alongwith Lata that was much less sharp, and less fulfilling- Asha Bhonsle. To a eight or nine year myself I compared the two voices to strings- one perfectly wound up, taut and tight; the other, loose and sagging. I would even playfully try to mimic those two by composing some gibberish and give the better part to Lataji.

Another assignment of dad brought us to Europe and once again, it cut down our supply of Hindi film songs. But Dad being innovative, we found a new way to keep our stocks replenished. Our video player ( a bulky Akai one weighing a whopping 18 kgs) arrived; and since, Hindi films were easily available on video, we used to record the songs from the tv to the audio by placing a cassette player in front of the television speaker. Of course, at that time when the songs were being recorded we had to ensure that no one spoke lest those external sounds also get recorded. That was the time when Amitabh Bachchan was reigning supreme, and in his films invariably we found one or two odd Lata songs- Naseeb, Desh Premee, Bemisal to name a few. Of course there were other gems also like Baseraa, Sanyasi (the video was available in the eighties only), Kranti , Karz and many more. Naturally the recording quality was dismal, but then, where were there those hi fi systems then to play them even?

Then dad got me the ultimate gift… a small audio player ( dictafone, I came to know much later) manufactured by Philips and having really cute small sized cassettes. My, my, I had a field day recording months after months my own collection of songs- all Lata’s, needless to add, though to be honest at that time I was not sure why I was even doing this selective recording.

One incident I remember clearly. I had watched Aarzoo the night before. In the film there is one very beautiful song “bedardi baalma tujhko mera mann yaad karta hai”. I was so taken up by that song that I kept singing it ( and trying, in my puerile manner to imitate Lataji) and when my teacher caught me humming that number in class room, she even made me sing it in front of the entire class. Not that those Europeans would have ever understood the meaning, but the sad part is they got to hear it in my considerably off tone voice.

Its only when I was in college, and independent enough to buy my own collection of audio cassettes( I was getting a reasonable pocket money by then), that I once sat down to realise what turned me on whenever I listened to Lataji. Then, as I do now, I tried to list down a few reasons: ( they all overlap, and they all sound repetitive)

a) She has the most perfect voice that God ever created. Its as pure as listening to a stream on a mountain side, as fresh as the dawn that breaks over the horizon every morning, and as soothing as the moon that rules the night.

b) She sings in impeccable accent

c) Her voice suits all the heroines

d) She never sings off-key

e) Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, she is the one voice that has been part of my growing up- from my childhood to my youth and now middle orders; she has been there in my happiness, sorrow, heartbreak, first love, marriage – you name the occassion, her songs have inspired me, motivated me, moved me, soothed me, stirred me, and loved me

Her songs have been there at all the memorable times of my life- my school times, my passing out of school ( Maine Pyaar Kiya and Chandni had been just released then); college and those innumerable discussion on Lamhe ( she sang all the songs in the film ) in the canteen, to my first job and now, the current assignment that I have taken.

Of course, by now her voice is permanentely fossilised in my entire being ( its as indelible as the moles on my skin) and I cannot even think of any other singer besides her. To be honest, Lata is the only lady of whom I can say I have been a honest and true fan. All the rest, be it actors or actresses do not matter, and keep changing. But she is one favorite who has stood the test of time in my life.

And, she is the only star to whom I even wrote to once, wishing her on one of her birthdays ( September 28th). Expectedly, she did not let me down, I received a personally signed thank you note- my most cherished possession apart from her songs.

I have embarked on a mission of restoring and converting all the songs that were there in those lovely green and black audio cassettes- I have found many of them, but a lot many of them still elude me, and seem to have got permanently lost into the sands of time. I hope I succeed.

And phew, look, I have finally managed to finish writing a piece on my affair with Lata’s voice. ( I am sorry, but memories once visited should not be repeated too soon as they lose their charm. I have relived my childhood while writing this piece, I will not go over it again to even check it, so I let the spellings and grammatical errors remain. Please forgive me for my little idiosyncracies)

All the best Lataji…keep enchanting us as ever!!!