Lata felt she was gifted by grace of God

 

 

 

KNOWN to be extremely down-to-earth, Lata Mangeshkar once said her singing wasn’t some miracle or anything extraordinary, and whatever happened was God’s will as “many have sung better than me, but perhaps they didn’t get as much as I did”. She was also of the view that one must not let success go to the head. “I am very grateful to God that my success hasn’t had a detrimental effect on me. My head could have turned; I could have thought no end of myself,” she had contended. “If I am gifted, it is by the grace of God. Who could have imagined I would be so famous? All right, I can sing but my singing wasn’t some sort of miracle. My singing is nothing extraordinary. Many have sung better than me, but perhaps they didn’t get as much as I did. It is His kindness alone. So how could I lose my head?” These remarks were made in a book “Lata Mangeshkar in her own voice”, written by TV producer and author Nasreen Munni Kabir and published by Niyogi Books in 2009.

 

The book was based on “Lata in Her Own Voice”, a six-part documentary series that Kabir directed in 1991 and was produced by Hyphen Films Ltd for Channel 4 TV in the UK. Based on Kabir’s conversations with the legendary singer, the book sheds light on the work and life of the extraordinarily gifted, deeply modest and God-fearing Mangeshkar. The singer also mentioned how she used to make all kinds of excuses when she was learning how to sing. “I was very young and preferred to play. I pretended to have a headache or stomach ache. It was always something. I would run from the room where Baba taught me. Sometimes he would catch hold of me and bring me right back. I would protest saying: ‘I feel shy to sing in front of you. I’m scared.’

 

“One day Baba sat me down and said: ‘I know I’m your father. But a father is like a guru too. Always remember - whether a guru or father is teaching you - when you sing you must think to yourself you will sing better than him. Never think how can I sing in his presence? Remember this. You must excel your guru.’ I have never forgotten Baba’s words,” she said in response to a question on lessons she learnt from her father, musician and theatre artist Deenanath Mangeshkar. Mangeshkar also went on to say how film music wasn’t hugely appreciated at her home. The family preferred Classical music.