Melody Queen, Nightingale Of India Flew on Her Last Aboard

Rahen na rahen hum Maheka karenge ban ke kali ban ke saba bagh e wafa mein ( Even when I am not there I will be with you as blossom and breeze in the garden of trust). This beautiful song gained much more popularity in 1966 when Legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar blew life in Majrooh Sultanpuri’s lines. Now, this voice is quiet forever, Nightingale Lata Mangeshkar is no more. She breathed her last on 6^th February 2022 at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.

Born on September 28, 1929, Indore, Her career spanned nearly 7 decades, and she recorded songs for the soundtracks of more than 2,000 Indian films.

Every single failure makes a Saga of Success that embarks a foot print for upcoming generations.

Lata Mangeshkar’s journey from an ordinary girl to Queen of Melody was a roller coaster just like other artists in initial days. Her voice was not accepted by the industry however she never gave up. Although, father Master Deenanath Mangeshkar, was a renowned classical singer, music director and drama writer. In an interview Lata shared an incident when she was just 5."Once my father was teaching music to his disciple. He had to go somewhere, so he told the disciple that you practice, I will be back. I was listening to the disciple sitting in the balcony. I went to him and said that you are singing this Bandish wrong. I sang that Bandish to him. Father came and I ran away from there. At that time I was only 4-5 years old and father did not know that I sing too. Father told the mother that the singer is sitting in his house and we are teaching the people outside. Next day I was awaken by father at 6 o'clock and he handed me the Tanpura. For the first time she performed on stage with him when she was only 9 years old and sang the raga Khambamati. Although Lata's father did not want her to sing in films

When she was 13, her father died. She initiated her career with Marathi songs. "Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari", which was composed by Sadashivrao Nevrekar for Vasant Joglekar's Marathi movie Kiti Hasaal (1942), but the song was dropped from the final cut. Being elder in the family she had to look after her younger siblings for that she performed as an actor in few Marathi films, nevertheless her dazzling future was eagerly waiting for her in playback singing.

Lata moved to Mumbai in 1945.She started learning Hindustani classical music from Ustad Aman Ali Khan of Bhindibazaar Gharana her other Gurus were Jammu maharaj ji and Mahakavi Pandit Narendra Sharma. Music director Ghulam Haider mentored her as a singer. He introduced Lata to producer Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was working on the movie Shaheed (1948), but Mukherjee rejected Lata's voice as "too thin". Annoyed Haider responded that in coming years, producers and directors would "fall at Lata's feet" and "beg her" to sing in their movies. Haider gave Lata her first major break with the song "Dil Mera Toda, Mujhe Kahin Ka Na Chhora"—lyrics by Nazim Panipati—in the movie Majboor (1948), which became her first big breakthrough film hit.

Urdu is the essence since bollywood came into existence, the dialogues and songs were impossible without its charm. Once, the legendary actor Dilip Kumar advised her about accent while singing Hindi/Urdu songs. So for a period of time, she took lessons in Urdu from an Urdu teacher Shafi.

One of her first major hits was "Aayega Aanewaala," a song in the movie Mahal (1949), composed by music director Khemchand Prakash. Since then Melody Queen never looked back. From Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari to Madhuri Dixit, Kajol and Preity Zinta she lent her voice to many actresses. 

Lata left behind a treasure of songs that will be cherished by the generations to come. Though the singer cannot be described by any genre, Mangeshkar’s songs, always filled with emotion, were often sad and mostly dealt with unreciprocated love, but others involved national pride. On 27 January 1963, against the backdrop of the Sino-Indian War, she sang the patriotic song "Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo" (literally, "Oh, People of My Country") in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru, then the Prime Minister of India. The song, composed by C. Ramchandra and written by Kavi Pradeep, is said to have brought the Prime Minister to tear.

Lata, who ruled the music industry of India, attended school only for a day. On her first day of school, she took her younger sister Asha Bhosle, then aged about 10 months, with her and when her teacher objected to it, she angrily went back home never to return again.

In Nasreen Munni's Book Lata Mangeshkar -In Her Own Voice, she says- "My father had read my birth chart and said that I will be unimaginably famous, will see the whole family and will not get married. This is life. No one insists on birth, death and marriage. If I had married, my life would have been different. I never have felt lonely. I have always been with my family."

Lata Mangeshkar won several awards and honours, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award 1989, Padma Bhushan 1969, Padma Vibhushan 1999

In 2009 she was awarded the title of Officer of the French Legion of Honour, France's highest order

2012 she was ranked number 10 in Outlook India's poll of the Greatest Indian.

She also received honorary doctorates from the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1989, Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, and Shivaji University in Kolhapur.

In 1974, she was one of the first Indian playback singers to ever perform at Royal Albert Hall, London.

She was a self made female singer. To move ahead in the industry, she considered it necessary to believe in her rather than others. Lata's journey in the world of music have ended on touching the heights of success, Opportunity India pays tribute to Nightingale Lata Mangeshkar.