AMAR , ADBUT , AVISARMINAYI AUR AMRIT LATA KO SHRADDHANJALI KI KYA ZAROORAT HAI ? LEKIN AGAR SHRADDHANJALI DIL SE HO TOH KYA KEHENE ..... ( EK ACCHE KALAKAR , ASHOK HANDE KA LATAJI KO PEHELA AUR SANGEETMAY SHRADDHANJALI ).... BY ALI PETER JOHN

Like every day of my life during the last seventy two years , I didn't know how the new day ( February 12 , 2022 ) was going to be for me , what surprises and what shocks it had in store for me , and I started out on my journey through the day - Ali Peter John

My friend , the well-known director and writer of Konkani films Harry Fernandes called to tell me that he was coming to see me and had his friend's car with him . The car reminded me that I had promised Priya Dutt to see her new restaurant which had come up where her father, Sunil Dutt had his office once in a building called Sunrise.

We not only saw the library , but also had a sumptuous Persian lunch and I was relieved when I was told that the bill was already paid for . It could only have been a kind gesture from the daughter of Sunil Dutt and Nargis Dutt .. ..

Harry then told me that he had four free passes for a special ,"Shraddhanjali " for Lata Mangeshkar to be held the same evening at the renowned Shanmukananda Hall. How could I have said no to an invitation like this ? I agreed to go with him .

I was seeing the Shanmukananda Hall after almost ten years , but nothing seemed to have changed about it , even the crowds were as excited as they used to be in those good old days.

It was a very unusual show . There were no tickets sold , but it was still a houseful show with passes distributed two days before the show . I wondered whether the house was full because of the music and the songs of Lataji or whether it was to pay tribute to the greatest ever singer to have walked this country and even this world .....

I found all my answers when Ashok Hande the well-known theatre personality of Maharashtra began the show of hearts and souls after an invocation by some very young men in Sanskrit ( ? ) .

And for the next four hours Hande and his team took the audience to one of the greatest lives from her birth in Indore to her early days in Kholapur and Poona and then through the whole universe . It was a true bringing alive of a suron ka gaatha which was what the life of the empress and swarsajni was all about .

Ashok Hande's efforts to bring honour and glory to Lataji would not have been as meaningful as it was , If it was not for some of his female singers who he called "hamaari Lataaen ".

I am guilty of not remembering all their names , but I must still praise a girl called Mridula Warrier who was basically a Keralite , but who was a magical and miraculous tribute to Lataji .

I have never liked to be partial when it comes to talent and that is why I thank all those female singers and that one male singer and all the musicians who together brought several eras of music , melody and magic alive.

That night , Lataji must have sung a song of gratitude to Ashok Hande and his team. I am sure there will be many more Shraddhanjalis for Lataji to come , but Hande and his team's Shraddhanjali will be the first and the best for me .

AISE TOH LATAJI KO NA TOH SHRADDHANJALI NA TOH AADARANJLI KI ZAROORAT HAI . LEKIN AGAR DENI HI HO TOH AISE HO JAISE USS RAAT HANDE AUR UNKE LATAAEN BHI