{"id":2240,"date":"2015-09-27T11:53:04","date_gmt":"2015-09-27T06:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=2240"},"modified":"2017-09-28T08:53:42","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T03:23:42","slug":"lata-mangeshkar-rare-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/lata-mangeshkar-rare-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Journey Through Lata’s Melodies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lata

Lata Mangeshkar, the Melody Queen
(Pic courtesy: SMM Ausaja<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

It is hard to imagine a single day without listening to or humming or perhaps just reminiscing of a song by Lata Mangeshkar. The many moods and hues of her songs have been a constant companion for over two decades and here is an attempt at chronicling my discovery of her music while drawing parallels with events in my life.<\/p>\n

(1) Mera salaam le jaa<\/strong>\u00a0(Udan Khatola,<\/em> 1955)<\/span><\/p>\n

The opening bars of music that I first heard in the 80’s with the magical voice singing\u00a0\u2018Hawa mein udta jaaye\u2019<\/em> still echo in my ears. My first introduction to Lata and for that matter old music was through my maternal uncle\u2019s music collection. This was during school days when my primary exposure was to her songs from RK films composed by Shankar Jaikishan (SJ). Apart from these, I had a wonderful tape of assorted songs that included \u2018Baansuriya bajaaye sakhi<\/em>\u2019, \u2018Nain mile nain hue baanware<\/em>\u2019 and the defining song of my childhood \u2018UDan khatole waale raahi<\/em>\u2019, a choral tapestry delicately crafted by Naushad.<\/p>\n

I had got admission into Hyderabad Public School and it was considered a sure shot ticket to America in those days and Udan Khatola<\/em> (1955) perfectly captured the vehicle of my dreams. \u2018Mera salaam lejaa, ulfat ka jaam lejaa<\/em>\u2019 was literally an invitation across the seas and as I now look behind, I realise that although America was my “queen of dreams” at that point, it was the signature of my favorite singer that I have been carrying all along and it has outlived my “queen”.<\/p>\n