'Lata Mangeshkar was like a parent who nurtured our sensibilities,' says Kannada poet Jayant Kaikini

Kaikini grew up in the North Karnataka region, groomed on Hindi and Kannada songs that played on the radio

Jayant Kaikini

Legends like Lata Mangeshkar are like our parents who nurtured our sensibilities. I am numb right now. If we get hurt by a sharp blade, we won't feel the pain immediately. It takes time. This loss is similar to that feeling.

I grew up in the North Karnataka region so we were groomed on Hindi and Kannada songs. We would wake up to bhajans and bhavageetes in a Marathi radio program called Mangala Prabhath. Right from those days, I heard songs from Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.

Also in smaller towns, Hindi films would take a lot of time to hit the screen. So our life depended on radio. The likes of Binaca Geetmala, and Vividh Bharti were the cult classic programs. So the likes of Rafi (Mohammed), Kishore, Lata, S Janaki, and P Susheela were the voices of such programs.

I had told this when SPB passed away and I will tell the same for Lata. These two singers are the background music of our life. They have become part of our conscience at a crucial juncture. Every milestone of life, like a tenth board exam or a job, was connected to her songs.

Her music played a therapeutic role in my life. Loneliness didn't haunt us because these singers were with us with their songs. They were with us and comforted us in our tough times.

Artistes don't sing much in cinema in other countries. They do singles and/or albums. But the concept of film songs is an Indian virtue, one that emerged from theatre (rangha bhoomi). I am very proud of it.

She sang for great musicians like C Ramchandra, Roshan, Shankar-Jai Kishan, Madan Mohan. And with each musician, she created magic. Like how in Hindustani music there is Gharana, we fans made our own Gharana with film songs.

She was a great singer and a master of classical music. She was very disciplined and would follow the music director's vision. If you observe in today's songs, each singer tries to bring out his or her own speciality. It becomes an exclusive singing.

But cinema is an art form intended to reach all. Lata was able to do that by singing what was exactly required for one particular song and give the composer what she or he wanted.

This is the reason why listeners would feel personally connected with her songs. And everybody was able to hum her songs. The likes of Rafi, Kishore and Lata are great singers no doubt. But on top of it, their voice had this rare evocative quality.

It's difficult to pick her best songs because they are so many! It will drive me mad to be honest if I try to shortlist her songs. I love her song Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamannah Hai from 'Guide' (1965). Dil Ka Diya Jala Ke Gaya from 'Akashdeep' (1965) is another gem.

These legends are like our gurus. From distance, they taught us a sense of right and wrong and nurtured us. We are just lucky to be born in that era.

Another important aspect to note in her career is that she has sung well in Marathi also. Some of her best songs were composed by her brother Hridayanath Mangeshkar. In Gulzar's Lekin, her brother Hridaynath composed the music and Lata has sung the lovely Yara Seeli Seeli. There are some great songs of hers in Jabbar Patel's Marathi films. The Mangeshkar family came from the Marathi theatre background so she was a prolific singer in Marathi also.

(As told to Vivek M V. The author is a well-known writer and lyricist).