[RaghuVis]

The Nightingale of India, Queen of Melody, Bharat Ratna Recipient Lata Mangeshkar has passed away today morning after a long battle with Covid.

While we are all deeply sad, we should be happy to be alive in an era of this legend! I would urge members to post their thoughts on her favorite song/songs which would be the best way to remember her!

Very difficult to choose between three songs
1) Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hei
2) Ae Mere Watan ke Logon
3) Luka Chuppi Bahut huyi

[ampere]

Sad day today! And yes I don't think there is any song which can be pinned to be the pick!

I just hope the world continues to live on her legacy. There won't be another Lata.

[searacer932]

Om Shanti.

We were all privileged to have had a great singer born in our country.

[Hayek]

Quite tragic. Never thought I would be hit as hard by Lata Mangeshkar passing away. Guess she has been an integral part of the lives of several generations of Indians - and her passing truly represents the end of an era. Goodbye Lata Didi.

[fhdowntheline]

Its not possible to pick favorite songs because of the colossal and profound impact that her voice has had on the Indian culture for 75 years , more or less coinciding with India's journey thus far as an independent nation. If I had to be partial to some of her songs, it would actually be her Marathi devotional abhangs , particularly of Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant Tukaram. Because she took the divinity of her sur to another level.

[PreludeSH]

Great thing about these legends is you will not miss them that much ! You continue enjoying their works, moved by their performance.
Sad day that an era ended. Was a living link to those heady, great days of music.

[V.Narayan]

My salutations to this exceptional person who is believed to have recorded more songs than any other and that too in 36 Indian languages. How many songs she recorded is often contested but it is in five figures whomever you believe. The number is not important. For those who grew up in the 1950s to 1980s Lata ji's voice was the default feminine voice on our radios. Where singing goes though western artistes might get more visibility it is our Indian singers, be it Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsale, Kishore Kumar, Mohd Rafi or MS Subbalakshmi among others who had the most awe inspiring range and calibre. God bless her. RIP

[vijaykr]

Even though we read about the current wave mostly receding and things becoming better, COVID19 continues to wreak havoc. Losing Lata-di is a colossal loss for music lovers all over irrespective of language. She is a true national icon. Om Shanti!

[NPV]

Very sad day for everyone who likes Indian music. Lata Mangeshkar is synonymous with Indian music. Her achievements are unparalleled, her presence was colossal and her voice will remain etched in our memories forever, may her soul RIP.

Also saddening that it was Covid that took her away, wish she had a natural and peaceful end to her journey.

[hondafanboy]

Extremely sad news. Feels like a part of India has gone. What a great gift god had given us and very fortunate that we got to see her and listen to her during our lifetime.

Om Shanti !

[One]

With songs these days which get tuned, everyone including Akshay Kumar sounds good while singing.

I didn't know the difference between Rafi-Kishore or Lata-Asha, but once I started understanding music better, I realised the difference between great and excellent.

Here's Lata, right from the time there's a tremor when she says "na jaane kyun" first time and the same words differently the second time

https://youtu.be/w1Y0qWKV8kU

Compared with the same song sung by an excellent singer, Kavita Krishnamurthy, but one can make out the difference in quality:

https://youtu.be/-DoZ1w-h1lI

Her speech was musical, her singing heavenly, and the better I become at listening to music, the more in awe am I of singers like her. Hope we get blessed and find more singers like her. Om Shanti

[anjan_c2007]

A national loss that makes it amongst the saddest days in Indian history. She has entertained us as an infant, child, during our youth, young age, middle age and even as a senior citizen in millions of cases. We have been used to hearing her Golden voice since we were infants. She had worked with almost every music director till the late 1990's but never with late O. P. Nayyar. The reason O. P. Nayyar gave in one of his later interviews that he couldn't make melodies to suit Latabai's voice range. In an interview Lataji had revealed that only after recording quite a few melodies, mostly ghazals by music director late Madan Mohan, would she feel a bit strained as the intricately crafted melodies were in a different genre and needed efforts by the singer. She was also in awe of music director late Salil Chowdhury under whose baton she sang lots and lots of Hindi film songs, Bengali Adhunik songs and also songs for Malayalam films. Rather, she was in awe of most of the stalwart music directors of the Golden Era of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. She in fact encouraged the music duo Laxmikant Pyarelal upon recognising their talent. She even recommended them to film makers and charged only small token amounts from them during the dawn of Laxmikant Pyarelal's career (1963-64) for films like Parasmani, Sati Savitri, Sant Gyaneshwar and Dosti.

Something about the cars Lata Mangeshkar owned. Her first car was a Hillman Minx Mark 2 of around 1947/48 with the headlights concealed in the front mudguards, a change vis a vis its predecessor the Mark 1 that had its headlights protruding and located on either sides of the front grille facade.

Next was a two tone (pic is in black and white) Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe of the early 1950's. She used this for a long time.

She also owned a Premier Padmini which was bought by Bappi Lahiri in a not so good condition. But Bappida has preserved the treasure with him.

Her latest fleet included a BMW 530i, Audi A4, and a Bentley Flying Spur.

A very rare song among my top favourites of the nightingale is this one from 1965 in Bhojpuri with music by Chitra Gupta and lip synced by Nargis . The film is Bhauji (1965) and lyrics is by Majrooh Sultanpuri.

https://youtu.be/bjfuQYfpwHM

Young and old, everyone will be enchanted with this rarely heard melody.

[anjan_c2007]

Some images to share:-



Master Dinanath Mangeshkar with Shevanti, father and mother of the Mangeshkars with daughter Asha on mothers lap and Lata, her father and Meena (photo from 1934 courtesy Bollywood direct on twitter



Lata Mangeshkar said that she once loved cycling



Her first car, the grey Minx Mark 2 she bought for Rs 8000=00



The second car the Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe



The Premier that is with Bappi Lahiri. This has an interesting story as revealed by Mumbai Mirror in 2008 in this link.

https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/...dxnVDYmgryfneg

Her later cars as reported from Sept 2020 :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7p7...nel=CarsForYou

[shancz]

Bid adieu to the timeless melody, elegance and humility personified.
Was an honour to have her as a fellow Indian.

[RJK]

What a loss of talent today for India!
For us kids born in 80s, Lata dadi (yes, dadi would be appropriate for our generation I think) was the default voice in most households. My parents and grand parents regale us with stories of the time before TV & the “transistor” as was colloquially referred for the radio & how they grew up listening to her voice. As a kid, for the longest time I thought there’s only one female singer

Such a fitting tribute for the Bharat Ratna with the PM himself arriving in person to pay respects.