The most iconic singer of the country, Lata Mangeshkar breathed her last on Sunday, February 06, 2022.
Through her decades-long career, Lata Mangeshkar lend her voice to more than 25,000 songs, her patriotic song ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon’ is what made India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru’s eyes brim with tears.
Lata sang the song for the first time right after two months of 1962’s Sino-Indian War, she sang this on the occasion of Republic Day (January 26, 1963). President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru were also present at the event held at New Delhi’s National Stadium.
In an interesting turn of events when the Republic day 1063 event ended, Lata was informed that Nehru wanted to talk to her. “At first I was nervous, thinking I have committed some mistake. But when I met Panditji (Nehru), I saw tears in his eyes. ‘Lata, tumne aaj mujhe rula diya’,” shared the iconic singer during an event in Mumbai held to mark the 51st anniversary of Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon. According to a report, after listening to the song, Nehru said, “Those who don’t feel inspired by ‘Aye mere watan ke logon’ don’t deserve to be called a Hindustani.”
Sadly, India lost its Nightingale, as The iconic singer passed away due to multiple organ failures at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai today. She was hospitalised on January 11 after contracting Covid-19. She was 92 and is survived by her four siblings.
Born in 1929 in pre-independence India, Lata began singing in her teens, and in a career spanning 73 years, sang more than an estimated 25,000 songs in 36 languages. Her first recorded song was in 1942 in the Marathi film Kiti Hasaal when she was just 13. In October last year, 79 years later, Vishal Bhardwaj released Theek Nahi Lagta, a song with Lata’s favourite lyricist Gulzar.
