As I
look at my twitter feed, listening to the music of the legend, I have a smile on
my face and tears in my eyes. Of course, the world of music is poorer today and
the void created cannot be and will never be filled. But my tears are just
accompanying the ironic smile on my face. It was Basant Panchami yesterday. The
day of Ma Saraswati. I restarted my Hindustani Classical training yesterday and
the incarnation of Ma Saraswati went to her heavenly abode today. This time I
will not stop, my learning will continue, but its just ironic. Or so I think
and feel, and some of you who know me will know why this irony is so strong for
me.
In
one of her earlier interviews, she had said that devotional music was amongst
her favourites. I am musically a pauper compared to her, but I also really enjoy
that genre. In fact, when I started singing weekly bhajans about two years ago,
it was also because her rendition of “Allah Tero Naam” was looped in my head. Knowing
my keen interest in devotional music, just before Nani passed away, that is one
song Guruji had started teaching me. This was in addition to the knowledge of the
ragas and Riyaz that I was getting under his tutelage. As I started to sing the
bhajan, I would listen to her rendition of the same multiple times a day. Other
than her voice and intonations what struck me was how one could never hear her
breathe while singing. Notice it. She is amongst the rarest of singers who while
singing do not let their breath hit the microphone. Apparently, she would turn
slightly away from the recording instrument and then inhale. What dedication to
the art!
As
hard as I try and recall, I cannot remember my first Lataji song. What I do
have is a vivid memory of the two LPs that I played very regularly. One is a
recording of her live performances with the legendary Mukesh and the other one
is that of her live performance at the Royal Albert Hall. I still have both the
LPs and had to share this picture from the first one, which is her tribute to
the singer she called an older brother. This LP introduced me to one of my all-time
Lataji favourites, “Aap Ki Nazaron Ne Samjha”. The lyrics somewhere depict what
love means to me and her rendition makes that emotion extremely palpable.
Madan Mohan who was the music director for this song incidentally was also the
composer of her last full album as well – Veer Zara. The song “Tere Liye Hum
Hain Jiye” from Veer Zara awakens every pore in my body and every corner of my
soul. Her voice conveys the deep emotion of love so well that I can feel that
love in my own bones!
The
second LP had two songs that have stuck with me all through – “Satyam Shivam
Sundaram” is the first. In fact, one of the weekends, I thought I could try and
sing this bhajan and then had to acknowledge how far I am in my journey to be
able to attempt this song. So, respecting her kala I did not even venture to
attempt the first line. The second one is “Ehasaan Tera Hoga Mujh Par” from
Junglee. The profound lyrics come alive with her soulful rendition. This one I
tried to attempt (even my attempt to try was meek) and shared with Apyrrhicvictor.
A very dear friend who understands music and revels in it as much as I, he is
the only one I feel I can share some of these recordings with. He is honest and
gentle in his feedback, and I am not scared of being judged by him. In almost two
decades of friendship, he must have been done with judging me multiple times
over!
One
movie that I can watch multiple times over is the Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed
“Chupke Chupke”. C Ramachandra has just lit the plot with his absolutely perfect
scores. However, I can never get over the title track, “Chupke Chupke Chal Ri
Purvaiya”. Lataji sung it with such ease, that the grace with which the melody
envelopes the sublime lyrics is purely prepossessing. It’s been a song that has
always inspired me to have control in my singing. She had this innate command
on music and voice where she could just use control to convey the emotion. No intonations,
no murkhis, no alaaps. Just pure simple controlled rendition and the song seemed
to be from another planet. That is exactly how she could invoke the patriotism
of millions of Indians when she sang “Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon”. She used the
right amount of softness and force in various parts of the song so that the
listener feels the call to duty, the pain and the valour all in that span of
a few minutes. I remember watching
Indian Idol recently where one of the contestants had brilliantly sung a Lataji
classic. While commenting on the performance, one of the judges said that while
he could not take away the stunning capability of the performer her real
challenge would be to bring about the same emotions without having Lataji’s
rendition as a guide. And how true he was. Very few singers have been able to
get this control right.
In fact,
as I write this, the other melody that comes to mind is the beautiful “Gudiya
Hum Se Roothi Rahogi” from the film Dosti. It’s a song that Sequoia and I often
sang to the pampered Bonsai and later to our Mini Mouse when she would get upset.
The playful innocence with which Lataji sang that song really captured the
emotions of a mother trying to cajole a sulking child. Throughout childhood it
was a fun song to sing and tease Bonsai when she would needlessly mope or brood.
The music of this song was given by the duo of Laxmikant – Pyarelal. Between
1963 – 1998, Lataji recorded 712 songs with them which is the highest number of
compositions she sang with any music director. If we are counting then her top
3 music directors after Laxmikant – Pyarelal were Shankar Jaikishan (453), R.D.
Burman (327) and C Ramachandra (298) with Kalyanji Anandji at a close 297 next.
Lataji
with Shankar Jaikishen gave us some absolute classics that are evergreen and of
course “Ehsan Tera Hoga Mujh Par” is at the top. But one other hauntingly
melodious creations of the trio, for me, is “Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh”. This is another
song where Lataji has empowered the melody and incorporated control to convey
more than what the lyrics could. Another one is from the movie Saanjh Aur
Savera. While Suman Kalyanpur has sung some of the songs from the film no one could
have sung “Manmohan Krishna Murari” like Lataji did. The unconditional devotion
pours out of every note. This is one bhajan that I have been singing regularly
now because it is attemptable, and her singing is just inspirational.
“Bekhudi
Mein Sanam” is a song I recently recorded as I had to sing it to get out of my
system. I had been humming it incessantly and once when accidentally my mic was
on during a zoom meeting. Embarrassed to the core, that I night I sung it
finally. Obviously, it is no patch on the original, but it is a great example
of the nostalgic classics that we got when Lataji sang with Kalyanji Anandji.
The other one being “Chandan Sa Badan” a song in raag Yaman that I attempted
just last night!
One
of my all-time favourite Bollywood soundtracks is Aandhi. This is RD Burman’s pinnacle
in my view. And this album would not have been what it is without Lataji. The call
to love with “Is Mod Se Jaate Hain” to the acknowledgement of love with “Tum Aa
Gaye Ho” and finally the acknowledgement of the longing for love with “Tere Bina
Zindagi Se”. None of these songs would have their souls had it not been Lataji
breathing life into them. What an incredible voice and musical talent house she
was! It seems unbelievable that she has transcended to be with the Gods, the
creators of music. Think of it, while she sang for RD Burman, she also sang for his great father SD Burman. Remember "Katon Se Kheench Ke Ye Aanchal" and the "Guide" soundtrack? She also sang for mothers and daughters - Tanuja and Kajol are one example!
As
we moved to Bombay, we had the absolute fortune of attending her last live
concert in the city. There was a massive live orchestra and then there was the much anticipated performance of “Ye Kahan Aa Gaye Hum” with the Bollywood numero uno Amitabh
Bachchan. Shiv-Hari are classical maestros, and they outdid themselves in scoring
the songs of “Silsila”. The music is a class apart! When the orchestra played
the opening notes my toes started tingling, but I will never ever
forget the sensation that shot through me when Lataji started singing this song.
I have always been very partial to this song. It was this melody that made me
want to visit Keukenhof and as an MBA student I saved for a trip to visit the Tulip
Gardens. That day, walking through the rows of flowers, I kept listening to Lataji’s live
performance of this song. At every step of life she seemed to have been there
with the music, with her voice.
It
sounds silly as I am even thinking of writing this next bit, but however stupid
it may sound, given the vast repertoire of bhajans and Bollywood classics that
Lataji had garnered I never even thought about hearing her work in her native
Marathi. A few years ago, a friend shared her music collection on a thumb drive.
She is an ardent music lover and a Maharashtrian so of course I had the
opportunity to skim the surface of Marathi music. And in that came a beautiful Sant
Dyaneshwar composition “Mogara Phulala”. I was completely soaked in this
composition. Speaking to my friend I realised that while the voice was that of
Lataji, the music was composed by her brother Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar. The
entire family is blessed by Ma Saraswati and today I pray that she grants them
the strength to carry on without the matriarch.
If I
do not make a deliberate attempt, I will not stop penning today. How can one
when she has sung some 30,000 songs in 36 languages, across genres and
generations! But I have to stop.
As I paid my last respects to this musical genius and goddess, what struck me was stuning. Maybe my restarting my training yesterday was very timely because I had her blessings while she was here on this planet. My
eyes are still moist, and my smile remains but the smile is no longer of irony but of gratitude.
They
say that the soul takes a few days to transcend from this mortal world to the
abode of the Gods. Any attachments, here, make that transition difficult. I pray
that the love that the nation has for Lataji makes it easier for her to reach
the abode of Ma Saraswati so that she can bless us all forever and ever. So filled with deepest of gratitude, I thank her for the music that she has blessed us with.
