The nightingale is silent

EDITORIAL: The sound produced in Lata Mangeshkar’s larynx and rendered as song was incomparable. In other words, she had a talent unmatched by any other singer in her country or perhaps even outside India.

Ajeeb Dastan Hae Ye,’ ‘Jab Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya,’ ‘Bheegi Bheegi Raaton Mein,’ ‘Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa To Nahin,’ ‘Lag Jaa Gale,’ ‘Ek Pyar Ka Naghma Hae,’ ‘Tune O Rangeele,’ ‘Aye Mere Wattan Ke Logo,’ ‘Maye Ni Maye,’ ‘Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye,’ ‘Tere Liye,’ and ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ are some of Lata Mangeshkar’s most memorable tracks. Lata Mangeshkar, a Maharashtrian Brahmin, passed away yesterday at a Mumbai hospital at the age of 92. Her career spanned nearly eight decades.

Born in Indore, India, Lata began her career at the age of 13 in 1942 and had sung over 30,000 songs in several Indian languages. However, her songs that she rendered in Urdu (Hindustani) helped her gain the world fame.

Till the early 1970s each and every Arab was strongly familiar with the voices of two iconic personalities through radio: Gammal Abdel Nasser’s and Umm-e-Kulthum’s. No doubt Lata Mangeshkar, who was rightly known as the ‘Queen of Melody’ and the ‘Nightingale of India’, was in fact the “Umm-e-Kulthum” of the entire world.

There cannot be a single individual not only in India and Pakistan but also in almost all the countries that are contiguous to these two countries who is not familiar with Lata Mangeshkar’s iconic voice. Lata Mangeshkar never visited Pakistan.

According to her, once she was invited to perform in Pakistan during the rule of Gen Ziaul Haq but the show was called off at the last minute.

Although Lata Mangeshkar could not come to Pakistan for whatever reasons, people here have not forgotten the homage that she offered on the death of her late friend Noor Jehan, Pakistan’s ‘Queen of Melody’, 20 years ago.

According to Lata Mangeshkar, when Noor Jehan migrated to Pakistan, she would call her up every day. “We kept in touch but I could never meet her [Noor Jehan],” Lata Mangeshkar had told a Pakistani TV channel on a somber note.

In fact, Lata Mangeshkar was much more versatile than the Egyptian singer or any other singer in the world because of a variety of reasons. She won numerous awards for Best Female Vocalist in her very long singing career. She will be remembered as best female vocalist even after her death. That the nightingale is now silent is unbelievable. RIP.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022