It was announced on Sunday, 6th Feb 2022 that Lata Mangeshkar has passed away...

Can Lata Mangeshkar ever die???

For the last couple of days, on every platform, people have been trying to convince me that she is no more...

I don't believe them!

From the time I was born, I remember this Lady... Always in white... Loving, caring and always smiling...

I was never in awe of her, she was so deceptively simple!

I attended many of her recordings as a kid, along with my father... She was just a very good singer...

As I grew up, I began to realize what she meant to not only India, but to the whole world!

SHE WAS A PHENOMENON!

Many female singers came and went, but Lata Mangeshkar was always up there... Beyond anybody's reach...

To illustrate what she meant to my father and all her contemporaries, most of them, much older than her, I am sharing a little story...

This was narrated to me by Lekh Tandon himself…

Lekh Tandon’s dream project, Amrapali was in progress…

Famous Recording Studio Tardeo….. Shanker Jaikishen, Lekh Tandon and Shailendra were present while Shanker Jaikishen’s 100 piece orchestra rehearsed the music for the song… Everything was in place… Suddenly, the phone in the recording studio rang…. Shanker was summoned….Raj Kapoor was on the line.

He asked Shanker to let him hear the song, which Kaviraj had written. Shanker sang the words on the phone while the orchestra played…It was “Kaatey na katey rainaa…”….

As soon as the song got over, Raj Kapoor told Shanker…. ”Please hand over the phone to Lekh.” As Lekh Tandon spoke to Raj Kapoor, the others saw the blood draining from his face. He finally kept the phone. When the others asked him what the matter was, Lekh told them…. ”Rajsahab wants this song for ‘Mera Naam Joker’- what do we do now ?”

Lekh Tandon had been Raj Kapoor’s assistant… Shanker Jaikishen and Shailendra were Raj Kapoor’s discoveries…. There was no way they could turn him down… They were in a huddle, at a loss as to what to do, when, the tragedy worsened…. Lata Mangeshkar arrived!!!

They were colleagues but all were in awe of, and had great respect for the lady…

She asked them what the matter was… They told her….

For a moment she was silent, then she pulled the Harmonium towards herself and said, “So what! Let us make another song… we can do it!”

Within a few minutes, Shanker Jaikishen and Lata had a tune ready…

Shailendra wrote…. ”Jaao re, jogi tum jaao re….”

“Waah waahs” all around!

Then came the question…. ”The verses ” ???

Shailendra gallantly rose to the occasion and said, ” Let everyone disperse and come back at 3pm…. I will have the verses….”

Disperse they did….

Shailendra called Lekh and asked him to accompany him…. They sat in Shailendra’s car and reached ‘Aarey Milk Colony’…. One of their favourite haunts…. Shailendra stopped on the way and picked up some beers….They sat in the restaurant…. Lekh Tandon was getting nervous…. Shailendra kept smoking and thinking…. His notebook was blank…. They had lunch…. Lekh could hardly eat….

It was past two in the afternoon when Shailendra rose … He apologetically told Lekh Tandon… ” Kuchh aa nahin rahaa hai…. recording cancel kar detey hain….”

To say that Lekh Tandon was shattered, would be an understatement!

100 musicians, the studio…. and most of all, cancelling Lata Mangeshkar’s precious ‘date’!

 Nothing short of sacrilege…!!!

Lekh was getting panicky…. If Lata Mangeshkar did not kill him, his producer would… Shailendra and Lekh Tandon were silent as the car reached the recording studio. Horror of horrors!

Latabai’s car was already there….Lekh told Shailendra… ” You handle her…. I cannot face her….” Shailendra moved ahead….

When he entered the ‘monitor’ room, he saw Lata in the glass cabin where singers stood and sang….He went in… Lekh Tandon was looking on …. he saw Lata and Shailendra having an animated conversation…. He was curious….This was what he had anticipated….

Lata was giving Shailendra hell for wasting her day…. Because the cabin was sound-proof, he could not hear anything…. He quietly switched on the singer’s microphone…. What he heard really shocked him…. Lata Mangeshkar was asking Shailendra,” Do we need any more verses?” Shailendra was furiously scribbling something…. He handed it to her and walked out….

Lekh Tandon always broke down when he narrated this interesting story….

Shailendra had rattled off three verses in front of the great Lady…!!!

Lekh, excitedly ran up to Shanker and Jaikishen and narrated what he had just witnessed…. They were amused but not shocked… They expected Shailendra to deliver…Deliver he did… AND HOW !!!

Lekh Tandon said... " I don't know how to explain ... Was it Shailendra's genius or the awe and respect he had for this GREAT LADY... "

Jeevan se kaisaa chhuttkaara,
Hai nadiyaa ke saath kinaara…

LATA MANGESHKAR CAN NEVER DIE!!!