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As I grow older ,my belief that the world in which we live would have been a much more beautiful place if it was created by a Goddess and not by a male God grows stronger . Why have we been brought up with the idea that God could only be a man and not a woman ? Why has there been some kind of a bias or a conspiracy to establish the reign of a God who is the supreme being with women at best being this God's hand-maids and even their women who are far less powerful than the God's ?Wasn't there the rule of women always being subservient to men ?And wouldn't some creations be much better than the ones created by an omnipotent ,
omnipresent and omniscient male God ?
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I could have gone on and on discussing and asking questions about my doubts about God ,but on this day ,the birthday of one of the greatest gifts recieved by us and the world ,Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar,I agree to disagree and believe that this amazing and astounding little woman in white must have been created by a Goddess who had taken over from the established God and proved how she could be a better God than the God people had accepted as a way of life from the time there was life ......
Lata Mangeshkar perhaps one of the most magnificent creations in the history of creations .Do you think I am going mad describing a woman who has gone beyond all description ?
Tell me,what do I say about a woman who has been singing her way into the hearts and souls of people for more than eighty -two years ?
What does one say about a woman who has been giving life to feelings ,moods and the changing attitudes and moods of human beings ? What does one say about a singer who can sing about the plight of a nautch girl and still sound divine ?
What does one say about a singer who can sing like a child singing about his mother and bring tears to the eyes of mothers and their children down the years ?What does one say about a woman who can sing about love like no lover or beloved has ever sung or even imagined singing ?And what does one say about a singer who can bring the Gods down and listen to her singing and not wanting to go back to their thrones
whereever they have them ? And what does one say about a singer who can sing to satisfy those in power ,those living in utter poverty ,those slogging in factories and fields and those fighting on the borders without worrying about their own lives and the lives of their near and dear ones and a singer who could make a prime minister cry and a singer who can transform the most dangerous and diabolical monsters into saints and holy men and women?
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Words ,poems and even doctorates have been used to describe her talent and greatness ,but I would like to point out things which very few know and only add up to the greatness of the most ordinary and simple woman I have ever met .....
She has sung more songs than any other singer in the world ,a fact which now can not be denied or debated about .She has sung in almost every major and minor language all around the globe .She has won some of the most prestigious awards both in the country and the highest awards in the world ,including "The Legion of Honour" ,the highest civilian award presented by the French Government .She has now reached a time in her life when she herself has grown into the most prestigious award the world has ever recieved .
Listen to what some of the greatest legends of India have to say about the "Sangeet Samragni" .The well known vocalist Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan never referred to her singing as a song ,but an" ibaadat " (prayer).The renowned actress Nargis once said ,"Lataji jab gaati hai toh saara ka saara kaaenaat khamosh ho jaati hai aur sab ibaadat mein kho jaate hai ".Mohammad Rafi was once singing a duet with her and couldn't control his emotions and stood before a wall and burst into tears and when someone asked him what had happened ,he had said in between sobbing uncontrollably , "woh awaaz sun rahe hai aap ,woh Allah ki sabse badi amaanat hai " .Her contemporary Mukesh once said , 'Jis manch par sangeet ki devi gaa rahi ho ,uss manch par kisi aur ko jaane ki jurrat nahi karni chaahiye ".And the best thing I heard about her singing was when a Catholic Priest once told me , "I have to listen to Lataji only once in a day to believe that there is a god ".
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I had an editor who always had her head in some unknown sky who once told me ,"Ali ,I have met all the stars but I never had the opportunity of meeting Lataji . Will you please take me to her ?"She was my editor ,after all and I took her request as an order and during my next meeting with Lataji ,I mentioned the editor's request to her and Lataji shocked me when she said in Marathi ,"naahi re baba , teela majhyakade nako gehoon ye "(no please don't bring that woman to me).It was strange how even when I mentioned the same editor and her request to Diljp Kumar ,he instantly shook his head and said he didn't want to meet her. The editor held the decisions of the two legends against me ,I still don't know why And yet this almost divine being has all the qualities of being human intact .
Lataji is one of the most proficient photographers I have known. She has the best collection of cameras and lenses and was a regular photographer till she was eighty and had discussions about photography with the best people in the business .She was one of the best golfers and was an expert in rifle shooter and could shoot a one naya paise coin from a distance at the very first shot .Her knowledge about international ,Indian and even state level cricket could beat some of the best players ,experts and commentators of the game.
She has always worn a white sari ,and sometimes with a colourful border and when she once wore a green sari ,it became an event and the delight of the photographer .She has no great preferences ,but she loves good and well-designed gold jewellery and it was Rekha ,the gorgeous at sixty plus actress who is one of her devoted fans who once told a large audience about Lataji's weakness for gold paayals and a gajra made of mogra flowers ,the same flowers with which she decorates the image and frames of her Gods ,Lord Ganesha and Lord Vitthal.
If there is one human being who has baffled both God and human beings ,it is without any doubt it is simply this absolutely above humans and even the heavens woman ,a woman who walks and sings in this world once in many billion years