On Lata Mangeshkar's Birthday: Five Songs That Make Her The Voice of The Feminine

Veteran playback singer and living legend Lata Mangeshkar has turned 91 today. She is known for her contribution to Indian music and the film industry for decades.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Lata Mangeshkar on Twitter. He wrote a post saying: “Spoke to respected Lata Didi and conveyed birthday greetings to her. Praying for her long and healthy life. Lata Didi is a household name across the nation. I consider myself fortunate to have always received her affection and blessings.”

Her sister and renowned playback singer Asha Bhosle shared memories in monochrome on the occasion of the legend's 91st birthday.

People across four generations know her as the "nightingale" who has sung in many Indian languages.

She is known for her extensive music repertoire (that includes a vast number of devotional and patriotic), collaborations, range and the ability to mould herself into the numerous moods, rasas, thematic needs, situations and characters.

However, there is one aspect that we would celebrate on her 91st.

It is: her prowess and grip over the portrayal of the feminine. Within it, her ability to represent the woman through all quests blended in the different scripts. She, over her countless visits to the music studios, would become the voice of the woman. The evolving woman of the different eras.

She took to her throat to sing over the many expressions of pride in gender.

We are living in times when songs are mere numbers. We are witnessing a period of dust and commotion in the industry where women are often objectified in songs over lip sync, much as they are in the outfits they wear on the screen - if we look at the last three decades.

Many songs fail to even convey a woman's journey in love. Her singing to the beloved. Oh, that's a thing of the era of Geeta Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and their few peers. In the 1990s, Lata ji swept the space for romantic songs for the third generation of actors in the industry. The trend continued -- till the early half of the previous decade.

We take five songs where Lata Mangeshkar speaks the heart and mind of the woman. The credit for these memorable songs cannot and does not go to the male lyricists alone. The songs are who Lata Mangeshkar is -- in throat, heart and mind. In moods. In the life of every woman.

1) Vande Mataram

The bold and proud celebration and tribute to the divine feminine. This rendition cannot be imagined in any other voice for a reason more than voice and work. It reaches, it calls, and it appeals to listeners across the country. It is pan Indian.

2) Ayega Aanewala

Lata ji, the longing and the feminine -- in their purest expression. Notice how the strings speak to her. They can be tuned with the help of her own sur. So perfect.

3) Paapi Bichhua

The sting of love. The bold woman sings of the sting. She can say. She can sing. She tells the tale. And there are people to hear that tale and sing along. Such were the pleasures of Lata ji's days. Those days. The album turned out to be a treasure for generations. This was love and moonlight in mischief.

4) Dil hoom hoom kare

The Indic imprint of legendary singer and composer Bhupen Hazarika moves over each facet of this song. The two emerge from this song as the one of the powerful collaborators during the later part of Lata ji's illustrious career. If a woman's solitude -- in being away from the beloved could be painted in voice, it would be this. The hollows of the heart fill up.

5) Luka Chhupi

This song could have been a standalone -- much like the great presence of Waheeda Rahman herself. Without Lata Mangeshkar's voice to this song, the film would be what the film was. This song held the film -- in its arms. Tears flow and the emotional persistence of the mother of the Shaheed pierces the listener. Lata Mangeshkar for the eternal Shaeed ki Ma.