Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Mangeshkar in Childhood

Lata Mangeshkar (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her contribution to Indian music industry in a career spanning seven decades gained her honorific titles such as the Nightingale of India, Voice of the Millennium and Queen of Melody.

Mangeshkar was born in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in 1929, the eldest daughter of Deenanath Mangeshkar, a Marathi and Konkani musician, and his wife Shevanti in Indore (in present-day Madhya Pradesh and then the capital of the princely state of Indore which was part of the Central India Agency in British India). Her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, was a classical singer and theatre actor. Her mother, Shevanti (later renamed Shudhamati), a Gujarati woman from Thalner, Bombay Presidency (now in northwest Maharashtra), was Deenanath's second wife; his first wife Narmada, who had died, was Shevanti's older sister.

Her paternal grandfather, Ganesh Bhatt Navathe Hardikar (Abhisheki), was a priest who performed the abhishekam of the Shiva lingam at the Mangueshi Temple in Goa. Her paternal grandmother, Yesubai Rane, was from Goa. Her maternal grandfather, Seth Haridas Ramdas Lad, was from Gujarat, a prosperous businessman and landlord of Thalner. She learned Gujarati folk songs such as garbas of Pavagadh from her maternal grandmother.

Deenanath adopted the surname Mangeshkar in order to identify his family with his native town of Mangeshi, Goa. Lata was named "Hema" at her birth. Her parents later renamed her Lata after a female character, Latika, in one of her father's plays, भाव बंधन.

She was the eldest child in the family. Meena, Asha, Usha, and Hridaynath, in birth order, are her siblings; all are accomplished singers and musicians.

She received her first music lesson from her father. At the age of five, she started to work as an actress in her father's musical plays (Sangeet Natak in Marathi). On her first day of school she left because they would not allow her to bring her sister Asha with her.

In 1963, she performed the song Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon in front of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. She mesmerised all and sundry with her golden voice and former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was one of them. In 1963, she performed the heart-wrenching tribute song Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon in front of the then Prime Minister Nehru. Later, in an interview, Mangeshkar said that, "I was much relieved to get it over with. After I finished my two songs, I went backstage to relax with a cup of coffee, unaware [of] what an enduring impact the song had created. Suddenly, I heard Mehboob Khan Saab calling for me. He caught hold of my hand and said, 'Chalo, Panditji ne bulaya hai.”

She also spoke about how she was surprised at the incident and wondered why the Prime Minister had called for her. “Panditji said, 'Bahut achcha. Mere aankhon mein paani aa gaya,” she added.