The day Lata Mangeshkar passed away, I was with a local friend who had not heard of her but had just read the news and told me. I remember feeling dazed for a bit as if expecting immortality and then being surprised by death. I played Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai to give A a sense of her music. Why that song in particular I don't know, but it felt like right the one at the moment. Listening to her voice made me cry from pain that I did not even know I had or felt.
For the next couple of days, I had trouble listening to songs by her that held some deep emotional connection for me. Phases of life, events happy and sad and memories of others who have since passed on. Nostalgia for my childhood was a big part of this music and it is replete with people with whom I had favorite songs in common. It was more than just music, memories were tightly entwined with it, phrase by phrase, tune by tune. I grew up with a lot of music around me with just about every family member being musically gifted. She was integral to the fabric of our lives. Lata Mangeshkar as the medium through which invisible connections were made with those with whom you did not have much else in common - her music had the power to overcome many barriers.
Thoughts of S, my friend from my college days came to mind that day - I have lost touch with her for a long time now. She had a fantastic voice and could do Lata songs justice. When S came on stage, we knew what she would open with - Yeh Sama Sama Hai Yeh Pyar Ka. It would bring the house down because she was that good. And so it goes with so many of her songs - your favorites, the favorites of those you have loved and lost and some who remain and you mourn times past together. I could not bring myself to write anything about how her passing until that dazed feeling faded. To imagine she had the same impact on many millions of people around the world is an overwhelming force to consider- that is the probably the gold standard of a life well-lived.
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