Lata Mangeshkar kept herself away from the media glare and was known to be a very private person. However in a rare long conversation, she answered all queries posed by Nasreen Munni Kabir in a candid way
Lata Mangeshkar passed away, leaving back those everlasting songs and also all of those known and unknown and little-known aspects to her personality. She kept herself far away from the media glare and was known to be a very private person, interacting with only close friends and family.
To know more about her, the last two days I have been re-reading this volume on her – ‘Lata Mangeshkar…In her own voice. Conversations with Nasreen Munni Kabir’(Niyogi Books). Very readable, it is a detailed conversation flowing along so very effortlessly between the two, Lata Mangeshkar and Nasreen Munni Kabir.
All possible aspects to her personal and professional life are there in this volume as part of the long conversation. She answers all queries put forth by Kabir, in that rather candid way. And though one is tempted to quote extensively but space constraints come in way, so will keep to the most significant quotes of Lata Mangeshkar.
On the controversy about her supposedly strained relationship with her sister Asha Bhosle, she has this to say in this volume: “Asha and I have always been close and still are. In 1947, when she was only fourteen, she wanted to marry a neighbour of ours, Ganpatrao Bhosle, who was a ration inspector. Mai was completely against the marriage. So Asha left home and married against Mai’s wishes. Mai was most unhappy …Once Asha was married her husband did not want her to do anything with us. She wasn’t allowed to see us or write to us. This was the situation for years…Asha suffered a lot during those years. She finally left her husband in 1960…It’s wrong to talk of rivalry having spoilt our relationship. We are sisters and neighbours. We talk to each other and eat together. If either of us has a problem, we tell each other. And if we have something to celebrate, we celebrate together.”
*****
On what upsets Lata Mangeshkar: “I am usually quite patient. But when I hear anyone saying something that I know to be a lie, I get angry. I might not let on and usually go quiet, but inside I am angry when people lie. I can’t say I’m a great reader of character but I can tell when someone is genuine or not. I may not get it 100 per cent right, maybe 75 per cent…Another thing that really makes me angry is when I hear someone sing out of tune. I can’t stand it.”
