LATAJI JAB JAB MUJHE KHUSH KARTI THI , MAIN PHUT PHUTKAR RO DETA THA ....

I didn't know how long I will live , but I know that as long as I live , I will live with the countless memories of the memorable times I was blessed with the privilege of being with Lata Mangeshkar when she made my life a celebration and an endless prayer - Ali Peter John

I had experienced the power of her voice when the vaccination vans used to come to our village during the small pox epidemic in 1957 with her songs playing in them to attract men women and children and then almost forcibly vaccinate them.

I knew a little about the magic of Lata Mangeshkar and spent the next few years worshiping her , till I faced her as one of the most beautiful realities of my life .

I had an aunt whose name was Cecil who used to work as a house help in the family of the Curmallys who lived on the third floor . The building in which my aunt worked was called Prabhu Kunj .

This building like many other buildings in the area had a rigid rule which said that servants and relatives of the servants working in the building could not use the lift or even climb the steps from the front entrance and they had to use an iron staircase at the back of the building .

I used to lose my temper when I was humiliated like this and one morning I decided to defy the rule and tried to enter from the front and as expected I was stopped by the tough security guards and before I could face the guards, an angel in a white sari got out of her car and came up to where I was struggling with the guards . She looked at me and asked ,. " bete kahaan jaana hai ?" and I said ,. "third floor , wahaan meri aunty kaam karti hai ".

She realised that I was not very comfortable about using the lift and she didn't get off on the first floor where she lived , but opened the door of the lift on the third floor and rang the bell of the Curmallys who reluctantly opened the door and the woman in the white sari took me in and told one of the Curmallys , ' hum log toh ye lift ka rule badalna padega , aisa accha nahi lagta hai na , ? .And she got into the lift and vanished as I kept looking at her in amazement .

It was my aunt who told me that the woman who came to leave me was Lata Mangeshkar and that image still lives on in my mind. Little did I as a twelve year old boy know that I would be meeting the magical Lata Mangeshkar under different circumstances at different times in the years to come.....

It was the year 1976 and I was trying to find my place in Screen . One afternoon I felt like calling the great Lata Mangeshkar even though I didn't know her and I knew that she must have certainly forgotten that first encounter between us at Prabhu Kunj.

I somehow got her land line number from my senior who was very possessive about his contacts with celebrities and stars in the industry and Lata Mangeshkar was one of them

I sneaked into the cabin of my editor when he was having his " rice plate" in the canteen. I could see my fingers trembling when I tried to dial her number and my heart skipped several beats when I heard a voice that sounded very similar to voice of Lata Mangeshkar.

I told the voice that I wanted to talk to Lata Mangeshkar and voice said , " main lata hi bol rahi hoon , aap kaun bol rahe hain ? ".

My heart threatened to break but I could still tell her my name and she almost "killed" me when she said ," aap wohi Ali hai jo Screen mein column likhte hai ? Hamaare ghar mein aapka column sab log padte hai, hume bahut khushi milti hai aapka column padne se , kabhi ghar aaiye " . That evening I had several cups of tea and bun maska in the nearby Irani hotel .

It was the beginning of our long association . I attended as many recordings as I could where she was singing and when she asked me , " kaisa laga gaana ? I stumbled for words ....and our bond grew stronger

Dev Anand was recording one of his last songs at the Western Outdoor Recording Studios in Flora Fountain and I was there because Dev Sahab always wanted to be with him after we had first met at the premiere of "Des Pardes" at the Taj Mahal Hotel . The recording got over at 2 pm and then....

Lataji asked me where Dev was ( Dev loved being called Dev and not Dev Sahab or Sir ) and she told me ,. " main bhaag rahi hoon, Dev Sahab ko please mat bataaiye " and she ran down the two floors, got into her car and .....

Dev came to me and asked me , " Ali , Lata kahan gayi ? " And I told him that she had " run away " Dev didn't wait for a second and ran down and reached the main road and started running after Lataji's car and the traffic on one of the busiest roads of Bombay came to a halt . It was high drama in the afternoon at Flora Fountain . Dev won the race with Lata's car and Lata had to stop....

Dev asked Lata why she had not taken her remuneration which was her due and tried to thrust an envelope containing several currency notes into her hands and Lata kept refusing to accept the envelope and when Dev insisted that she take the money , Lata said , " aapne humko bahut kuch diya hai itne saalo mein , ab main ye paise aapse le hi nahi sakti , chalo agar aapko piase dene hi hai , mujhe ek rupya dijiye aur bahut saara ashirwaad dijiye " Dev didn't have a rupee , but he himself ran back to the recording studio and brought a one rupee coin which Lata gratefully accepted and touched Dev,'s feet while thousands of the lunch time crowd at Flora Fountain kept watching the real life drama which they must have found difficult to believe.

It was our Screen Awards and the management wanted Lata to sing at the show . I was asked to talk to Lataji and she instantly agreed and only said that she would charge the Indian Express a sum of rupees five lakhs . I took her proposal to my management and they were overjoyed and agreed to pay her what she asked for . .....

The show was a grand success and Lata's performance was the highlight ...... A month later , the management gave me a cheque of five lakhs to handed over to Lataji and I went to Prabhu Kunj with the cheque .....

Lataji had one look at the cheque and asked , " Ali , ye kya hai ? ". I told her it was the money she had asked for her performance and she said ,. " maine paise ke liye thodi gaaya tha ? Maine aapke kehene par gaaya tha. Ye tumhaare management ke log kya paise denge . Ye paise lekar unko waapis karo aur unse kaho agar dena hi hai mere hospital mein daan karo " . I returned the money and I don't know what happened to it and Lataji never mentioned those five lakhs even once .

MUJHE AAJ TAK PATA NAHI KI LATAJI KO MUJH MEIN KYA DIKHA . WOH MERI ZINDAGI MEIN EK AZEEM DUA BANKAR AAYI , RAHI AUR AB HAMESHA KE LIYE RAHEGI