Sangam city mourns demise of iconic singer
PRAYAGRAJ: People from all walks of life here on Sunday expressed their grief and sorrow over the demise of legendary Bollywood singer Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, referred to as the ‘Nightingale of India’.
Though Lata never performed in the city, Prayagraj did have an indirect but special connection with her. One of her most iconic songs “Ae mere watan ke logo” was written by Ramchandra Narayan Dwivedi aka Kavi Pradeep who was born in Ujjain but lived in Prayagraj for many years. The song “Ae mere watan ke logo” was composed in memory of soldiers who laid down their lives during the Indo-China war in 1962.
Senior Hindi litterateur Naresh Mishra said that Kavi Pradeep’s early education took place at Shivaji Rao High School in Indore but he did his high school and intermediate from a school in Daraganj which was later renamed as Radha Raman Inter College. For Kavi Pradeep, the stay from 1933 to 1935 in Prayagraj (then Allahabad) was very good for his poetry as he spent time with great poet Nirala in Daraganj and later penned the song which was sung by Lataji.
Bhajan singer Manoj Gupta shared that 12 years back, he had gone to Mumbai to meet Lataji along with Pt Anupam Rai and during the interaction at her residence she had expressed her desire to attend Kumbh on the banks of Sangam very much, but her wish remained unfulfilled.
Sangam city’s male ‘Lata’ expresses dismay
Among the Prayagraj residents saddened by the death of the legendary singer was Chandra Prakash who has earned the nickname “Lata didi” for his unique talent to sing songs in female voice, identical to the voice of Lata Mangeshkar. Aged 75, Chandra Prakash lives alone in Colonelganj and over the years has performed on many events singing famous number sung by Lata Mangeshkar. “Her passing away is a huge loss to the world of music and India. But she will always remain alive through her huge body of works,” said Chandra Prakash, breaking down while recalling the only time he got to meet the iconic singer in Lucknow when she was invited by the then CM Mulayam Singh Yadav in 1990’s to felicitate her.
Many VIPs mourn demise
Many VIPs, including former Governor of West Bengal Pt Keshari Nath Tripathi and MP Phulpur Keshari Devi Patel expressed their sadness over the passing away of the legendary singer.
Former Mayor, Ch Jitendra Nath Singh, UPCC member Kishore Varshney along with fellow Congressmen including Fuzail Hashmi, Harikesh Tripathi, Parvez Siddiqui, Ajay Srivastava, Ajay Mishra, Keshav Lal and others said India had lost one of the finest voices.