EK GEET JO RET PAR BANI AUR GAATAHA BAN GAYI ( CHHOTI SI BADI KAHANI "AE MERE WATAN KE LOGO" KI )

The Indo-China war is just over . The way the Indian army fails to meet the challenge of the Chinese attack has broken the hearts of the people and the leaders of the country - Ali Peter John

A poet ( Kavi Pradeep) is walking alone on the beach at Shivaji Park in Bombay and the way Indian Soldiers have died in the war stirs up his heart .

He has no paper to write on . He writes his thoughts on the inside of a cigarette packet and decides to complete his poem or song when he reaches home.

He completes writing the poem, song that very night and when he reads what he has written, a strange thrill of satisfaction fills him ....

It is at this time that Mehboob Khan , the flim maker and admirer of Pandit JawaharLal Nehru, thinks of organizing an event in New Delhi ways to raise funds for the dead and wounded soldiers.

He meets Kavi Pradeep at a function and asks him if he can write a song which could boost the Morale of the soldiers and even of the country.

Kavi Pradeep takes his time and finally tells Mehboob Khan about the poem he has written.

Mehboob Khan loves and appreciates what Kavi Pradeep has written. Mehboob Khan had first thought of his own lyricist SHAKEER BADAYUNI to write a song , but after reading what Kavi Pradeep has written, he takes a decision to convert the poem into a song which could be sung before a large crowd in New Delhi....

It is decided that the song would be sung by Asha Bhosle and music director C. Ramchandra would compose it . But , Ramchandra wants Lata to sing it . There is a struggle over who would finally sing .

Lata suggests that the song be sung as a duet between Asha and her . But Kavi Pradeep is firm about the song being sung only by Lata .

Hemant Kumar comes in as a peace-maker and ask Asha to sing , but Asha turns down the offer .

Lata is too busy with her assignments, but Kavi Pradeep and the song he has written makes her agree to sing .

There is no time for her to rehearse in Bombay and she decides to take a break from her singing and flies down to New Delhi with Ramchandra and his entire orchestra and the sound recordist .

She spends all her time in doing her rehearsals .

A show is organized at the National Stadium in the Capital . There is a huge crowd and the highlight of the show is that both President S. Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru are present .

Lata feels a little nervous in the beginning, but once she takes off , there is no stopping her till she moves every heart in the crowd and Prime Minister Nehru even shades tears . Within minutes , Lata has the crowd in a spell and when she finishes singing, the crowd turns into an ocean of emotions.

And within a week , the song " Ae mere watan ke logo" becomes a song heard everywhere and in every home .

It is more than 60 years since that song created a sensation, but one thing that many who were there when it was sung by Lata is that why Kavi Pradeep was not invited to the show . Was his being neglected that made him a bitter person and who stopped writing songs ?

The show collected two lakhs of rupees, which is a large sum if one considers that two lakhs was a fabulous amount in the early 60's .

"Ae Mere Watan Ke logo " is now as popular or even more popular than the national anthem and Vande Mataram .

Today after so many years , independence day and republic day do not start without the song being played from loud speakers and other mediums.

Lata is ninety-one and has stopped singing in public , but this one song will keep her alive as long as India lives .

ISS GEET KO GAATAHA BANNSE KOI NAHI ROOK SAKTA THA . AUR AAJ BHI YEH GEET SUNA JAATA HAI AUR BUDHE AUR JAWAN AUR BACCHE SAB ISS GEET KO BADE SHRADHA SE SUNTE HAI . ISLIYE ISME KAVI PRADEEP KA ZYAADA YOG DAAN HAI YAA LATA JI KA ? YEH FAISLA TOH ABTAK KISI NE LIYA NAHI HAI AUR AAGE BHI NAHI LE SAKENGE .

From Ali Peter John