Today, when the wider soundscape of India is as chaotically rich as that of any western nation with experimental music, indie-rock shows soaked in hipster attitude, pop idols cavorting on HD monitors in malls, innumerable winners emerging from the ceaseless reality singing competitions, a demure woman in a white sari still manages to capture the attention of the nation every time she sings or even speaks.
She connects us to much that we hold dear in our musical tradition with a humility that is as remarkable as the genius from which it springs.
It is easy to get hyperbolic when talking about Lata but words fail to adequately describe what she has meant to the world of Indian music and to the generations of Indians, who have grown up listening to her divine voice. Her achievements are so gargantuan that even if she had stopped singing after the first 15 years of her career, Indian music would still be in her everlasting debt. Yet Lata continued to work at an extraordinary high level of artistic achievement.
Easiness of expression is untrendy these days in our brave new 21st century world. In our respect for difficulty, we equate fluency with superficiality. Lata's artistic genius lies in her making singing seem so effortless. The most difficult of the ragas and the highest of the scales -- Lata reaches with a serenity that would be bewildering even for a classical master. She is often criticised for not being versatile enough, like her sister Asha Bhosle.
It's the critics, however, who seem out of touch with her repertoire -- Aa Ja Jaane Ja, one of the finest cabaret numbers; Woh Ik Nigah Kya Mili where she sings like a soprano; Ehsan Tera Hoga Mujh Par and Mere Naina Sawan Bhadon where she sings at a scale used only for male voices; Aye Dilruba where she sings an Arabic tune flawlessly in high octave; innumerable songs that she sang for C Ramachandran and Salil Chaudhury in the western idiom. If this is not versatility, then the word is devoid of any meaning.
In the picture: Lata Mangeshkar at a press conference in 1999. Photograph: Sebastian D'Souza/Getty Images
Also Read: How Lata Mangeshkar proved Dilip Kumar wrong
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