It was a gloomy evening where I was all alone in house. Found a cassette called "Diamonds forever" around. When I started playing it, a song started in a heavenly voice. I could not control my emotions, though I had no clue on what she was singing as I was a Telugu speaking 14-year-old boy with very minimal understanding of Hindi at that time and that song was "Na koi umang hai" from "Kati Patang".

Out of curiosity I attempted listening to a song on other side of the cassette and it was a breezy voice singing in a sizzling romantic mood - "Yeh sama sama hai yeh pyar ka". I was amazed by the versatility of the voice. I knew the name- Lata Mangeshkar, and her songs from albums like "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun" and "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" till then. As everyone else, I had enjoyed those songs. I had also heard her songs in Rangoli radio programs in Sunday mornings. But what I listened to from "Diamonds forever" was something else. That evening was my first acquaintance with that voice which continued for a lifetime!

Started listening her songs and collecting them from every possible source. Songs from Pakeezah, Mughal E Azam, Amar Prem, Woh Kaun Thi, Anarkali, Andaz, Barsaat, Nagin, Chaala Vahi Des, Ram Ratan Dhan Payo etc.. became integral part of my thinking process.

If that voice could express very simple and straightforward lyrics like "Pardesiya, yeh sach hai piya, sab kehthe hain maine tujhko dil de diya", It could also express the lyrics with infinite depth like "Aankhon ko nichoda maine bahut, par koyi aansoon nikla nahin" in 'Main ek sadee se baithee hoon'.

I started appreciating poetry, music and even cinema just because of her singing. Whenever people praise her voice, I used to feel sad as I wished they speak more about her artistry and modulation than her nature gifted vocals.

She never wept or cried in her songs except a few like "Tum mujhse door chale jaana na" or "Naina mere rang bhare sapne to sajane lage", which might have happened because of music director's request. But the emotions she filled in those songs make us cry. At times, they don't even make us cry but fill us with a silence. That minute alaap she adds before second stanza of "Megha Chhaaye Aadhi Raat" or the silence of few milliseconds just after "Ji" and before "Hamein manzoor hai" in "Aapki nazron ne samjha" or that jathi she sings at end of "Thaade rahiyo" or addition of "re" in "Jiyara re jhoome re aise re" in "Saawan Ka Mahina" or that "Mulaaayam" in " Yeh kahaan aa gaye hum". This list of how she adds a signature of Lata Mangeshkar on a song just goes on and on.

I am nothing and have no knowledge or qualification to speak about her music, but at the same time as an ardent admirer of her singing, I feel ultimate bliss when I remember or speak about her songs, even within me. Just the way she sings "Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai, Aaj phir marne ka iraada hai!"- an irony becomes justified!

In fact, getting lost in the memories of her melodies will remain as some of most cherished moments of my life!

How many songs of her had just became part of my life- (our lives)!! Whenever distressed, her voice sings "Is khudaai mein ek tu kya hai?" (in Aye dile nadaan), when elated the same voice swings, "Aaj madhuhosh hua jaaye re"..!

At times it warns "Dushman hain hazaaron yahan jaan ke, zara milna nazar pehchanke" (in Kahin deep jale kahin dil) and at times it consoles "Parameshwar rakhwala tera, wohi maata, wohi pita hai."

At times it argues "Jaane kyun log mohabbat kiya karte hain?" and at times it answers " Mohabbat aisi dhadkan hai, jo samajhayi nahin jaati." At times it condemns "Sansaar se baaghe phirte ho, bhagavaan ko tum kya paaoge" and at times, it surrenders "Banwari re jeene ka sahara tera naam re, mujhe duniyawalon se kya kaam re."

Same motherly voice that celebrates her child's innocence "Mere ghar aayi ek nanhi pari" gets worried about future of a child "Tere bachpan ko jawani ki dua deti hoon, aur duaa dekhe pareshaan si ho jati hoon."

That voice becomes a caring young brother "Phoolon ka taaron ka sab ka kehna hain" and a loving sister "Bhayya mere rakhi ka bandhan ko nibhana". It expresses gratitude to mother "Maa mujhe apne aanchal mein chhupa le" and undeniable love of a devoted wife "Tum hi mere mandir, tum hi meri pooja tum hi devata ho"! It lulls us into sleep with "Dheere se aaja ri akhiyan main" and becomes a wake-up call with "Jaago Mohan pyaare".

Is there any expression or situation or emotion of life that voice didn't express? World may count the awards Lata Mangeshkar won or the most successful concerts she gave or the popular discs she released. But the biggest blessing she left is the treasure of her melodies! How her voice became an integral part of our lives and how her voice became a torch-bearer to Indian music and how that voice took a piece of us with her and left a piece of her with all of us!

I think, just like me, many others may even not need to listen those songs anymore, they are within us, they became a part of our thought process!

How much ever I try to put the abundance of emotions towards the artist or artistry, I just can neither start nor stop to do it with full satisfaction! Such is my love and admiration for her singing!!

But If I ever had to speak to that pristine voice, I would have said...

“Loved you, worshipped you, prayed for you and literally lived my lifetime with your voice.

Collecting cassettes, CDs, mp3s, jukeboxes…. any format of music with your name on it and listening to them in a continuous loop countless times was (is) the definition of happiness!

Reading every single book I could collect, every single article, every single line about you, trying to get as close to your music as much as possible and trying to live in it was what I did all the time.

Could never meet you in person but spoke to your voice and music the most in life. Shared every emotion with your voice. Was ridiculed at times and was appreciated as well for it. But both the things were materialistic compared to the divine bliss your music offered!

In all ups and downs of life, your voice was the constant companion, friend, guide, and a divine presence!

Knew that everyone and everything that takes birth finally goes away but selfishly wished it never happened to you!

Lataji, you might be a great singer to the world, for me you were, are and continue to be something way beyond that!

Your voice loved, cared, caressed, counseled, and consoled me; it rejoiced with me, and it inspired me; it always will!