Her voice of love

If music be the food of love, play on

William Shakespeare

True that, especially in this second week of February. That no one in India can express their state of mind better than with a song when in the fits of love😉also is understood very well by the world (so hopelessly steeped in music are we!). Scores of Indians and music lovers in the Indian subcontinent have been surviving this condition fully aided by songs of love wrapped in the soulful voices of our marvelous singers, especially those by Lata Mangeshkar.

With her departure from amidst us last week, her songs have gained a poignant status, both in meaning and existence and no better way to pay a loving tribute to the melody queen, our Bharat Ratna ( gem of India) than to thank her for all the songs of love we have grown up with.Her honeyed voice rising from the radios, the music systems, an omnipresent melody in our lives…Lata Mangeshkar in lullabies, prayers, romance, melancholy, retribution, valour and patriotism…

She has been part of Indian musical history that was doled out from the silver screen to the real world generation after generation, movie after movie,till her contribution ran to more than 50,000 songs in 14 languages. Lata didi (Hindi for elder sister, an honorific given to her in India) lived to see India’s journey since it gained Independence seven decades ago till now as it recently stepped into its 75th year of freedom.

Her magical voice became part of our DNA , with almost all tender emotions of an average Indian captured and encapsulated in her sweet voice and emotional tenor. The Nightingale of India will live forever through her songs. Leaving you with one of my favourites, a love song originally sung in 1964 for a Hindi film Wo Kaun Thi, and sung live once again at the BBC studios years later…