My Uber driver takes me through crowded, narrow by-lanes of Versova and stops in front of a building. The LM studio is housed on its third floor. I am here to meet Mayuresh Pai, a composer who has the distinction of making the maximum number of non-film albums with Lata Mangeshkar. More importantly he is the man, she fondly referred to as ‘just like my family member’ in most of her interviews, including her last recorded interview.

I am curious (and a bit envious, too!) about the man, who spent perhaps the maximum amount of time with the melody queen in the final two decades of her life. He is the trustee of the ambitious Maharashtra government project of Lata Mangeshkar Sangeet Vidyalaya.

When we meet, the common thread of Lata-love binds us within no time. Mayuresh speaks to me in Marathi, and with easy literary flair. His devotion to the great lady is absolute, and his emotional bond with her unshakeable.

The memories and anecdotes keep flowing from him. I interject minimally, listening to him spellbound to his experiences, which as he says, ‘feel like straight out of a film’.

What are your first memories of Lataji’s singing?

It is difficult to remember when I heard her voice first, almost as difficult as remembering when you took your first breath. I feel, just like what we hear in mythology, it must be almost like Abhimanyu listening to the mother’s voice while inside the womb. But one thing is sure that I first started to realize that her singing, her songs are special when I was training under Sureshji (Suresh Wadkar). While teaching music, Sureshji’s one final part of riyaaz used to be singing Didi’s songs and explaining the intricacies of her singing. That made me understand how her renditions were so special, and how different they were from those of other singers.

Sureshji’s teachings opened my mind to various facets of her singing like projection…dynamics…pronunciation. Then I started going deeper into Bhaav Sangeet to understand more about her music. In that process, I also explored other artistes, only to realize that even while not going into any number game, her singing defined what the number game parameters should be.

Madan Mohan, S.D. Burman, Pancham, Sajjad, Roshan, Naushad- take any composer with any style, she has come up with brilliant songs with everyone. Even her songs for composers like Bal Parte or K. Mahaveer, who composed only a handful of songs, are pure gems. How can you not credit her for that brilliance?

When did you first meet her?

In 1997, Lata Didi did a live show for Shiv-Udyog Sena in Mumbai. All of us, Sureshji’s disciples, went and watched the show from the backrows on 100 rupees Tickets. After the show, when she came out, all my colleagues touched her feet, but I just froze and only kept looking at her, without saying anything. She left without even noticing me. That was our first meeting.

I first went to Prabhu Kunj with Prashant Nandgaokar. He had an album-‘Lok Ganpati’ with the Mangeshkar sisters- Usha tai and Meena tai, which was scheduled for release and I was his sound engineer. On that occasion, I first formally met Lata Didi, touched her feet, and got my first photo clicked with her.

I had decided that when I make my own recording studio, I would name it ‘Swar Lata’. In 2002, when I was about to open my recording studio, I asked Usha tai, with whom I had been working since 1998, whether Didi would give her signature for my studio’s opening. Usha tai told me to ask Didi directly. I met her in Pune. I told her that I was a music director and was opening my own studio. She generously accepted my request and gave her best wishes to my studio. It was 18th August 2002.

How did you start composing songs for her?

In my studio, I was trying to compose tunes for some poems from a book given to me by my friend. Sureshji’s wife Padma was with me. I composed one tune and Padma said, “Oh, it’s a very nice tune. Who is going to sing it?” I jokingly said, “Lata didi”. We both had a hearty laugh!

I asked Usha tai if Didi would sing my composition. After recording ‘Meera Sur Kabira’ with Hridaynathji, Didi had practically stopped doing non-film albums, but still Usha tai said that she would check up with Didi and inform me. I waited for more than 3 months. Meanwhile, I repeatedly kept asking Usha tai if she got any answer. She would tell me that Didi had still not listened to the tune.

Then on November 12th or 15th 2003, I got a phone call in my studio. “Hello, Am I speaking to Mayuresh Pai? I am Lata Mangeshkar.” I was stunned. She said that she liked my tune, and she would sing it for me. But first she wanted me to compose an album of Atalji’s  (Atal Bihari Bajpayee’s) poems. I just muttered something and said- ‘Okay’.

I immediately called Sureshji and told him what had transpired. He said, “It must have been somebody’s prank, Didi wouldn’t call you like this”. So, I called Usha tai to confirm. Usha tai said that it was indeed Didi who had called me and gave the phone to her. Again, Didi reconfirmed what she had said.

I composed tunes for Atalji’s poems over the next few days. On 27 November 2003, I recorded my first songs with Didi. They were ‘Mere Saai’ and ‘Aao Man Ki Gaathein Khole’.

You made many albums with her after that.

I had not come here to become a music director. Till date, I have not approached anyone for work. Yet all this happened.

Didi kept suggesting new ideas. She first suggested to do ghazals. So we did Saadgi. Then, Times Music told me to do Ganpati songs. Then we did Sai bhajans, then Tirupati songs, then Sarhadein…. Just like that we ended up doing thirteen albums together, besides some film songs.

I don’t consider myself a great composer.  I don’t know how good or bad my music is. Yet, GIMA award, millions of likes on Youtube, best-selling albums like Saadgi and Mere Saai…all this happened only because of Didi’s golden voice.

I used to tell Didi, “It is your voice that makes people imagine that they are composers.” Here, I remember Maithilisharan Gupta’s famous couplet:

“Ram tumhara charitra, swayam kaavya hai
Koi kavi ban jaaye, sahaj sambhaavya hai.”

(Ram, your life itself is poetry. So, it is easily possible for anyone to be a poet!)

So how was the experience?

The 19 years that I spent in Didi’s company taught me so many things. It also made me appreciate why the ancient Gurukul system was so important in learning. The time that you spend in your Guru’s presence teaches you not just about your subject but about life in general.

While doing ghazals, she encouraged me to learn more about the Urdu language and poetry. Her driver would bring books for me to read Urdu ghazals.

Once at a recording, I shouted angrily at a studio boy for not bringing tea on time. Didi saw that from the recording room and called me. She asked me why I was shouting and on finding out the reason, told me, “He is working for his subsistence, just like what you and I are doing. He might have got less, and we might have got more, but our souls are one and the same. Remember that you are talking to his soul, so learn to respect that. You don’t lose anything by giving respect to others.”

She would tell me to help every poor needy person. If I objected, she would say, “Only when you open your fist, you will get more. Keep it closed, and nothing will come in!”

Just observing her from close quarters-how she talked, how she behaved, how she looked at life- changed me into a better human being.

Sometimes when some criticism or controversies came her way, I would ask her, “Why don’t you issue clarification?” She would say, “Those who love you, will never believe anything bad about you, and those who hate you, will never believe anything good about you. So why waste time in issuing clarifications?” Then I would ask, “Don’t you get angry at such people?” She would say, “No- I feel pity for them. People don’t even spare God in their criticism, then, who am I? A mere human being. We all know what we have done right, and what we have done wrong. Then, why explain it to someone else?”

I used to be a very volatile, irritable person who would get angry easily. She told me, “I also had a terrible temper in my youth. But when I did albums like Dnyaneshwari, Tukaram, Meera, I started to realize my folly. I mellowed down. I am telling you from my own experience that you must let go of anger. What mistakes I committed; you should avoid.” Believe me, I did change into a mellower person following her advice.

Once I asked her, “After so many decades at the very top, don’t you feel that you are the best?” She calmly answered, “No- never. You might have heard Lata Mangeshkar, but I have heard Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan Saheb and Master Dinanath, sitting next to them. I have listened to real music. So, I know exactly where I stand. I won’t ever get false pride!”

Tell me, who will show such humility after achieving so much success and fame? Today, a singer starts throwing an attitude on getting a million views or likes on Youtube. But this out of the world artiste, who wore golden anklets in her feet, had her feet firmly planted on ground.

She had an innate simplicity, and it was not a put-on act. She would address everyone, including the house-servants with utmost respect. “Only those who get respect, can show respect.” That was her dictum.

Many times, when we were dining in restaurants, people would approach her for photos. We, the people who were with her, would get upset, but Didi would always accept those fan requests with a smile. She would say, “What relation do they have with me? They are just doing it for their love.”

How did your special bond with Didi develop over the years?

I feel that our bond did not develop over the years; it was strong from the very beginning and remained the same till the end. She was my Guru, my friend-philosopher-guide, my mother, my Goddess.

On the Aashadhi Ekadashi festival, all and sundry come to the Vitthal temple to pray. Amidst them an ordinary devotee (Vaarkari) comes at the doorstep without any special qualification, but he alone gets the enlightenment that no one else gets; his entire life turns fragrant in a moment. I consider my relationship with Didi in the same light. She would also say to me that why she kept suggesting different projects to me, she did not know. “It just comes to my mind”- she said. I just consider it my good fortune, or, perhaps a result of my parents’ good deeds.

Any special memories of Didi’s recordings?

Once during a recording, Didi stopped and sat down. Usha tai went inside the singer’s booth to inquire. The mike was on, so we could hear what they were talking about. Didi told Usha tai, “I feel that my (blood) pressure is high. But if I leave this incomplete, he (Mayuresh) will feel bad.” She finished the recording, and later when we checked her BP, it was 200/110! That song was ‘Andhe Khwaabon Ne’ (from Saadgi), a really difficult song.

I witnessed this dedication and commitment so many times. She has sung my songs even when not feeling well, sometimes while having high fever.

What was her age when you did these recordings?

She was in her eighties. I always feel that just like we pray the Goddess Durga during Navratri on the Ashtami and Navami (the 8th and 9th day), I got the opportunity to serve my Goddess in the 8th and 9th decade of her life, and as she left for heavenly abode on the Saraswati Visarjan day, I was there to pay the last respects.

You saw her closely during her battles with failing health.

In 2019, she returned home on 8th December after a prolonged hospitalization and a few days of ventilator support. Before she was to be discharged, the doctors wanted to check her voice after removing the ventilator tube. They were hesitating to ask her to do that. So, I told her, “Didi, can you render Om?” She rendered the Omkar for the next 35-40 seconds in a full voice steady as a rock. All those who were present in the room were simply stunned! Even the Cleaveland Clinic doctors from the US were surprised by her resilience.

She even went to sing after recovering from that illness. On 22 December 2021, just about a week before her final hospitalization, she spoke in Parliament, singing a shlok during the speech. You won’t hear her breath sound during that rendition!

Even when she was on ventilator, when we visited her, she would always smile. She never showed her pain to anyone.

On her final rites’ day, when the army truck was carrying her mortal remains on Mumbai streets, the people were raising slogans from galleries and roadsides from time to time. They were saying- ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’! That was her place in their hearts!