Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, at 92 years, died on Sunday after being hospitalised for weeks and was cremated with full state honours at the Shivaji Park located in Mumbai yesterday marking an end to the decorated journey of seven decades of the amazing singer.
The national flag in which the singer’s body was draped, was handed over to her family, just before the last rites were performed. The late singer’s brother, Hridaynath Mangeshkar was the one who lit the funeral pyre of the legend. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the park to pay his last tribute to the singer and met with the family to console them. Modi left the venue before the funeral. He also expressed grief via Twitter saying that he is anguished beyond words. He further added that the kind and caring Lata Didi had left us. She left a void in the heart of the nation that can never be filled. He said that the coming generations will remember the legendary singer as a stalwart of the Indian Culture, he further mentioned.
The whole nation mourned the death of the veteran singer. Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader said that she would remain the most beloved voice of the country for many decades and also said that the immortal golden voice of the legend will be echoing in the hearts of her fans forever. Amongst the people who went to pay their respects to the singer were Maharashtra’s Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerey, Deputy CM of the state, Ajit Pawar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Javed Akhtar and Sahin Tendulkar. Sub-continent leaders including the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and President of Nepal also mourned her death
A public holiday was announced in Maharashtra to mourn the death of the singer. The Reserve Bank of India had rescheduled the monetary policy committee meeting by a day to February 8-10.
Lata Mangeshkar was awarded various honours such as the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan, and various Dadasaheb Phalke Awards. She was and will always remain an icon in the Indian film industry for singing an extensive repertoire of playback songs. One of the most famous episodes of her life is when she moved the then Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru. During the backdrop of the Indi-China War, on January 27, 1963, she sang the iconic song ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon’ in the presence of Nehru and brought him to tears.
The singer belonged to a prominent musical family. She used to compose music and had produced a couple of films as well. She was lovingly known as the Nightingale of India by her fans. Over 50,000 songs in almost 14 languages were sung by her ever since she debuted for radio in 1941.
