It was December 18, 2021. We were gearing up for the second national committee meeting to oversee the planning of India’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The national committee meeting is a place for prominent thought leaders to share their opinions on the progress of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav festivities.
About a 100 people inside the main committee room in Parliament House Annexe, including the Prime Minister, the home minister and members of the Union cabinet, were joined in by other dignitaries from various parts of India, virtually.
Being an Officer on Special Duty provided a unique opportunity to interact with several real-life heroes whose work I have admired from a distance.
One of my most star-struck moments was when we spoke with India’s nightingale and Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar ji. What amazed me was how she seemed oblivious of her stature and treated us as if we were old friends, often inquiring when I would visit her in Mumbai.
Lata Didi, despite her age and delicate health, gave us her precious time more than once. I will fondly recall our interactions whenever I will hear her voice. It shall remain a story for the ages that even my grandchildren may relay to their grandchildren.
While there was a sense of foreboding, little did we know that her presence on December 18 would be one of her last public appearances. It was remarkable how at 92 she still maintained the playfulness of a child just initiated into her art.
When we heard her voice, this time online, she transported us to a time in the past. She told us how on August 15, 1947, flower petals were showered across Mumbai and people, including the Mangeshkar family, beamed with joy chanting “Hum Azad Huay! Hum Azad Huay!” ( “We got freedom! We got freedom!”).
She told us about recording a song at Bombay Talkies with famous singer Mukesh ji the following year for the 1948 Movie “Majboor” and smilingly recollected its lyrics “अब डरने की कोई बात नहीं अंग्रेजी छोरा चला गया, अंग्रेजी छोरा चला गया”.
Further, she told us how various prime ministers and ministers since then have contributed to India’s prosperity. She expressed her gratitude to the current government and Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi as well as people of the country. She concluded her interaction with a mesmerising invocation of a shloka from Bhagvad Gita;
“यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्॥
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे युगे ॥”
Lata ji may have passed on, but her voice shall continue to evoke emotions in people across generations, for years to come. Hers was a golden voice that not only enthralled the music world but also had the power to connect. Accessible, humble and ever enthusiastic, Lata ji was a true legend who loved music and her country in equal measure.
Today and for years to come, each time anyone listens to Lata Mangeshkar singing “Ae mere watan ke logon, zara aankh mein bhar lo paani…”, they will be left teary-eyed, remembering her and those who have made the supreme sacrifice for this nation.
Ratnesh Kumar Jha is Officer on Special Duty (Commemoration) for Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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