India is mourning the death of its former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and one of many people devastated by the news of his passing is India’s nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar. Talking about the close bond they shared, she says, “He was like my father. He called me beti, and I called him dadda. The glow on his face, his persuasive oratorical powers and his love for the arts always reminded me of my father (legendary musician and stage actor Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar). It feels like I’ve lost my father all over again.”
“When I was a child, many national leaders and politicians visited our home, and Vir Savarkar was one of them. Atal ji reminded me of him too. No words of praise can do justice to Atal ji, he was a noble soul. And he was never short of words, but I am,” she adds.
The singer talks of how the legendary politician readily agreed to inaugurate a hospital built by the Mangeshkars in Pune. “He gave a rousing speech, as usual, and he said that he was in a dilemma because he thought it was not right for a hospital to be named after me. ‘There should be a music academy named after Lata Mangeshkar, not a hospital. What do I say? Should people fall sick so that the hospital named after my beti runs?’ he said. His speeches were works of art. There is no orator in Indian politics who can match Atal ji,” she says.
In 2014, Lata ji came out with an entire album based on the former PM's poems. Reminiscing the “unforgettable experience”, she says, “The album was officially released at his home in Delhi. We flew down there for the occasion. All the poems in the album we titled Antarnaad were handpicked by me and my composer Mayuresh Pai. When Atal ji saw the poems that we had selected, he was very happy, especially because we had chosen Geet Naya Gata Hoon, which was among his personal favourites. However, there were some doubts regarding the selection of Thann Gayi Maut Se. Though Atal ji himself loved the poem, his (adopted) daughter and others close to him felt that it was wrong of him to challenge death through poetry. So we decided to drop that poem from the album. When we told Atal ji of our decision, he went quiet and then said, ‘If that’s what everyone wants, then so be it.’”
Calling him a “poet at heart and a saint by nature,” Lata ji says she has seldom been more impressed by another politician. “He was a visionary; India made rapid progress during his Prime Ministership. I remember how much he did to improve relations with Pakistan. He started a bus service to Pakistan, and he was very keen that I should be one of the first passengers to undertake that journey across the border. He told me that the people in Pakistan were as keen to hear me sing as the people in India. But I didn’t go. It was always hard to say no to Atal ji. He was such a wonderful human being and a great statesman.”
The singer feels that the nation has lost more than a Bharat Ratna. “Dadda was a man with a vision. He could see the future, and when he spoke, the nation listened. I still have his speeches saved on my mobile phone. I can listen to them for hours. With his passing, India has been orphaned. But then, if he was in so much pain, it would’ve been selfish of us to hold him back. He is now relieved of all pain and probably regaling the gods with his oration,” she concludes.
