SUNO KOYAL BITIYA, TUM LAAKH KOSHISH KARO TUM LATA JI JAISE GAA NAHI SAKTI HO

This morning the koyal was again singing at my window and today she was singing in a much sweeter voice than any morning before - ALI PETER JOHN

I asked her why she was singing so sweetly and she said," Uncle mujhe Lata Mangeshkar ban na hai".

It didn't take me a second to tell the koyal that even if she had to live several lives , she would never be able to sing like Lata Mangeshkar.

She was disappointing and said she would keep trying. And I even told her the line which I tell everyone, Koshish karne vaalon ki kabhi haar nahi hoti hai.

Ever since Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar became popular after her song ' aaega aane waala' in Mahal, she has had to face competition and even bitter rivalry at times, but she has always been a winner and is still the greatest winner even now when she is 92 and still sing aartis and bhajans at home.

She faced her first competition from the actress Noor Jahan who was also a singer , but Noor Jahan left India and settle down in Pakistan soon after the partition.

There were other singers like her own sister Asha Bhonsle, Shamshad begum, Geeta Dutt and many other singers of the sixties like Suman kalyanpur who tried to imitate her , but none of them could reach the heights of the velvet voiced 'sur samagri'.

In the seventies where apparently the toughest times for Lata ji when singers like Sulakshna pandit and other singers like her started a controversy by saying that Lata ji and her sisters were silencing the voices of many good singers but nothing affected Lata ji or her voice. Infact , she even announced in public that she wouldn't accept any more private awards.

It is the known fact by now that Mohammed Rafi once called Lata ji ' Khuda ki den' and cried with joy whenever she sang one of her good songs.

It is now almost 85 years since she has been singing. Today is the time of singers like Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan but Lata ji is still and will always be the greatest voice of all times.

I hope the koyal doesn't pick up a fight with me tomorrow morning when she listens to my opinion about Lata ji.

AISI AWAAZ JISMEIN HAZAARON LAAKHON AAWAAZEIN AATI HAI ISS DUNIYA MEIN AUR CHODH DETI HAIN NISHAANIYAN JO KAI ZINDGIYON TAK ZINDA REHTI HAI AUR AMAR HO JAATI HAI, BAHUT MUSHKIL SE HI BANTI HAIN.