Opinion The ‘nava rasa’ of Lata Mangeshkar’s music
Our lives are governed by nine major emotions with all their concomitant shades, hues and variations. Lata’s music reflected the myriad hues of each one
Despite my own lukewarm affection for film music, Lataji’s music impressed me a lot and compelled me to hum her songs. 
A glorious era of music ended with Lata Mangeshkar leaving us. The loss of her magical voice that held the nation and millions of fans worldwide spellbound is felt by all. But I have lovely memories of her to fall back on in this moment of grief and irreplaceable void.
I was fortunate to have met Lataji two-three times. I vividly recall interacting with her at the birthday function of the former prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, amidst a select gathering that included LK Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi and Pt Ravi Shankar and his wife Sukanya. Atalji was my good friend, so I marked the celebration with an Odissi recital at the Panchavati Auditorium on the sprawling premises of the PM’s residence. Many guests expressed their appreciation of my performance and Lataji was one of them. Praising me in her soft and sweet voice she said, “I have seen your dance for years and have great admiration for you.” She told other guests that it’s difficult to get the opportunity to watch such performances. Such words of validation from a consummate artist who understood and appreciated art represented a great honour.
Despite my own lukewarm affection for film music, Lataji’s music impressed me a lot and compelled me to hum her songs. Songs from earlier films such as “Aaayega, aanewala” from the hit film Mahal, “O Sajana barkha bahar laayee” from Parakh, “Aye mere mushkil kusha” of Mughal-e-Azam, “Kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya” from Suvarna Sundari and many others, made a deep impression not only because of her sweet voice but also her solid training in classical music. Her bhajans brimming with bhakti bhaav, captivating the heart. Lataji’s patriotic songs became iconic not only due to their lyrics, which were full of patriotic fervour, but also because of famous music composers who gave the melody for her rendition. A famous example is Kavi Pradeep’s “Aye mere watan ke logon…”, which was performed by Lataji, who made it immortal. These patriotic songs bound the nation together, transcending boundaries of language, region, religion and a lot more.
Not every great artist has the goodness to encourage and promote young artists. It is well-known that Lataji encouraged young artists by following their work, calling them on the phone to congratulate and boost their morale and sending presents and guiding them in their progress as professional artists. Many famous artists do not have such a big heart, therefore the popular saying, “Naam bade aur darshan chhote” is apt for them. Unlike them, Lataji’s stature was as big in name as her heart. Lataji’s music was multi-dimensional and multi-lingual which, apart from gaining artistic fame was used by her to set up the family’s Deenanath Mangeshkar Trust for social work and Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune for providing the best affordable healthcare.
Because of her innate talent and strict, disciplined training in Indian classical music, she could deliver songs of love, sadness, wisdom, elation and other human emotions with equal ease. Her music perfectly reflects the “Nava Rasa” concept described in the Natya Shastra. Our lives are governed by nine major emotions with all their concomitant shades, hues and variations. Lataji’s music reflected the myriad hues ofeach one. If she sang sad songs people wept. Her cajoling persuasive voice demanded love but she could also bring out fear and mystery, wonderment, devotion, mirth and laughter, anger and longing. Songs dedicated to our martyrs touched the hearts of millions and are still sung and performed by artists, soldiers, students and others. Devotion was inherent in Lataji’s nature, so her bhajans became the daily “wake-up call” for many around the world. I would like to call her music as “Music of the Navarasa”.
The unchallenged queen of melody has sung more than 30,000 songs in 36 languages in a career spanning seven decades. I consider Lataji as ‘Sur Samragnyi’, which means “The Empress of Music” and “Sangeet Saraswati”, which means the “Goddess of Music”.
The writer is a Rajya Sabha MP and founder-president, Centre for Indian Classical Dances
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