Everyone is familiar with the personality of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, known as Bharat Ratna and Swara Kokila. Lata’s life stories and Lata’s singing stories have been written and heard many times. Many books have also been written on his achievements in different languages of India. Despite this, it can be said with certainty that a lot remains to be written about that great singer. For example, what Lata Mangeshkar thought about various fields of art other than singing, or what veterans from other fields other than singing have said about Lata Mangeshkar – it is as unique to know as it is about her singing personality.
From this perspective, the recently published book ‘Lata Mangeshkar – Ganga of Singing’ throws light on some untouched aspects of Lata’s life. The author of this book is- Inderjit Singh. The book has been published by the Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Inderjit Singh, resident of Dehradun, is a song-music critic and film historian. he earlier Biography of lyricist Shailendra Also wrote.
Useful for music students
‘Lata Mangeshkar-Gaiki Ki Ganga’ is a useful book for the students of song, music and film history. Not only for cinema lovers but also for those who are researchers doing special studies in this field. The preface of the book has been written by well-known lyricist Irshad Kamil. He has written- “Someone said Lata Mangeshkar is magic. Some said it is Tilism. Some said Swar is a nightingale. Some said – Swar Sadhika. Some started believing in Saraswati in person. Some started saying coolness of evening, some morning sunshine… I agreed to everyone like a good child without any ifs and buts. Kept listening to songs silently and kept weaving dreams.”
Lata Mangeshkar’s immense love for cricket
Really, after listening to Lata, everyone gets lost in golden dreams. Lata’s singing has decorated people’s dreams and also taught them the way to live. Very few people would know that Lata Mangeshkar’s love for cricket was immense. It is told in the book that Lata ji had special love for the sports skills of Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli. She used to watch cricket matches with great interest. She considered Sachin Tendulkar like her son. Sachin also loved him like his mother. Lata ji’s song to Sachin Tendulkar- Wherever you go, my shadow will be with you… Particularly liked.
Whenever there was a match in which Sachin Tendulkar was playing, Lata used to cancel her recording that day. When Sachin scored a century, his happiness knew no bounds; when he got out after scoring less runs, Mangeshkar seemed to become very sad. Like millions of Indians, Lata ji also found the India-Pakistan match very exciting. She used to cancel all the singing programs and watch India-Pak matches all day long. If Sachin Tendulkar was playing in that match, she would have been even more excited.
Harish Bhimani narrated a unique story
This book is filled with many such interesting incidents. Similarly, many unique incidents have come in the book through Harish Bhimani and Yatindra Mishra. Harish Bhimani is a well-known announcer and litterateur. He also wrote a book-‘Lata Didi – This is a strange story. In this book, interesting memories of Lata ji’s many stage performances are recorded through him. There are unique stories of Lata ji’s singing in many live concerts in the eighties and the crowd gathered during that time.
The words of Harish Bhimani are- “My personal view is that Lata ji gives the status of worship to music – it is very popular for her to sing with her slippers off during recording or stage programs. If someone like her was seen not giving so much respect to music, she would have got upset and would have avoided that path.”
Lata liked off beat songs more
Similarly, the author of Lata Sur Gatha and music historian Yatindra Mishra reveals a unique fact about the Sur Empress. He says- Lata ji rarely liked her popular songs. He liked the off-beat songs he sang more. She liked the songs of Shailendra, Sahir, Gulzar very much. He liked singing bhajans very much. His love of literature was equally unique. She liked Hindi, Marathi poets and lyricists very much. She used to listen to the compositions composed by him with great devotion.
There are other special features of this book. The printing of this book of about two hundred pages with colorful photographs of Lata Mangeshkar with well-known personalities is very attractive. If you are interested in reading this book and want to order it, you can contact the book sales center of the Publications Department.
Book – Gaikiki Ki Ganga
Author – Inderjeet Singh
Publisher – Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Soochna Bhawan,
CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110003
Price Rs 330/-
Also read: Cockroach story in Kaun Banega Crorepati when Amitabh Bachchan narrated an interesting story
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