The Nightangle Of India Passes Away, Leaves Her Songs To Remember Her By

The veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar will be missed by millions and her songs will continue to live in our memories and envelope our hearts. The nightingale of India passed away on February 6, today. She was in hospital since January this year after having tested positive for coronavirus. She was diagnosed with pneumonia and was kept at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

She was on the path to recovery when her condition deteriorated on February 5. The singer was then put under intensive therapy and was tolerating the procedure but then succumbed to the complications. She was 92 years old. According to the news agency ANI, her mortal remains are going to be taken to her residence around 12:30 PM today. The last rites will be conducted with full State honours at Shivaji Park at 6:30 PM.

Dr Pratit Samdani of the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai was treating her and issued a statement, saying, "It is with profound grief that we announce the sad demise of #LataMangeshkar at 8:12 AM. She died because of multi-organ failure after more than 28 days of hospitalisation post #COVID19."

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The Bharat Ratna awardee will be missed by many. People of the film fraternity have expressed anguish over the death of Mangeshkar. Actor Hema Malini told ANI, "#LataMangeshkar is such a big artist & personality. I've worked in 200 films & I'm lucky to have performed on the hit songs she sang. No one can sing like her, she was very special. Her passing away is very saddening."

Mangeshkar reigned Bollywood as the lead singer for the longest time, since her entry in the year 1942, at the age of 13. Even though a song that she sang for a Marathi film was dropped, she was destined to be one the popular singers that the industry had ever seen.

Lata Mangeshkar Last Song

She was born in a family of artists. Her father ran a theatre company while she and her sister, Asha Bhosle grew up learning music. Both of them were trained in classical music and their indomitable talent was soon recognised by their father.

Mangeshkar lost her father in her teenage years and then moved to Mumbai in pursuit of her music. She met Master Vinayak, a filmmaker in his 30s and he trained her. After Master Vinayak passed away, she was trained by Ghulam Haider and she progressed to be a playback singer. She recorded her first song in 1942 for a Marathi film, which was later dropped.

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When all this was unfolding, she was just 13-years-old. But hiccups in the journey just pushed her harder towards her goal. She then went on to record songs for thousands of films and in 36 different regional languages. She sang her best songs with music directors, such as SD Burman, Naushad Ali and Anil Biswas. She ruled the industry and there was no one like her except her sister Bhosle, who joined her later.

Not only did she make a space for herself in the industry, where she was looked up to, she also was given many awards during her lifetime. She was the recipient of Bharat Ratna and three National Film Awards. In 2007, she was awarded the Highest Civilian Award of France, Officer of the Legion of Honour. In 2016, her contribution to Bengali music was recognised by the Chief Minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee. She was awarded Bangla Bibhushan, the state's highest civilian award.

In 1974, she was mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most recorded artist. The legendary singer's favourite artist was Madan Mohan, with whom she reportedly had a sibling-sort of a bond.

She had sung songs that gave goosebumps and made one teary-eyed like Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon. It was a song that moved every Indian with its powerful lyrics and vocals. It was a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for their country during the Sino-Indian war. She also sang devotional songs like Allah Tero Naam for the film Hum Dono in 1961 and she also sang catchy tunes like Didi Tera Deewar Deewana for the film Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! in 1994. In 2015, she recorded her last song. But according to Indian Express, her last song was Saugandh Mujhe Is Mitti Ki, which is composed by Mayuresh Pai. This was a tribute to the Indian Army and nation. It was released on March 30, 2019.

If one is to walk on the streets of Kolkata, one should not be surprised if they pass by the tunes of her song from a nearby paan shop or a record store. Her songs are for everyone to hear and replay. Likewise is the case for other cities, towns and villages in India.