Lataji ...My Love

Lataji means music to me

I am not trying to praise her because I don't feel a need for it .

I am just expressing my views and love for her .

When she sings Thumhari bulaane ko jii chahtha hain , I observe a constant silence in her voice .Sometimes I switch of the music and start telling her "Please leave me,I want to spend a life with out you :-)" then she sings "Thu jahan jahn chalega , mera saaya saath hoga" .It is true ,her songs always haunt me like a saaya and it is the biggest gift of god to me .

I feel that lataji is mine sometimes and I feel that the voice is coming from my heart .When she sings "rasme ulfath ko nibhaye tho nibhaye kaise " , I cannot control my emotions , and if any one asks me what is your favorite song of Lataji ,I really don't have an answer .Every song from her is a gem to me , but I still have some songs which I cannot enjoy , they may be around 20 songs on a whole thats it , but more fun is all of them are among her most popular songs list .

It took 3 years for me to start listening her duets , it was because I was not able to wait for her voice in duets but later on I realised her intelligence in duets like "Gum hain kisike pyar main " and mainly "woh hain zara khafa khafa" she sounds like an angel there .

I love lataji when she sings for Jaidev ji ,Madhan mohan sahab ,whose music ,I think no one can ever try to attempt and then Salilda , Burman sahab ,Naushad ji and Pancham sahab .When she sings for younger brother Hridaynath ji ,she sounds exactly like Goddess Saraswathi to me .All her works with him are pure and I feel "THIS IS INDIAN MUSIC" when I listen them .

Among her co-singers , I love all her works with kishore da,Rafishab, Mukesh ji,Hemant da, Asha ji,Geeta ji,Mannada and Talat sahab .

I will narrate a small story how my love towards her started.

I was all alone in my home as my mom and father were working and my brother went out for playing .I was preparing for some exams and all of a sudden I felt so lonely and it as almost as if I lost all interst in life .Then I found a cassette called "Diamonds Forever " in my house some where and first song I heard was "Yeh Sama Sama hain yeh Pyaar ka" then I listened "Na koyi umang hain" in same cassette .

Na koyi umang hain , made me emotional and Yeh sama made me feel joy .At that time ,I was not able to understand the songs as I am from Andhra and Telugu was my mother tounge .Na koyi umang hain made me cry just because of dard in the voice .

Then my love/devotion for lataji started and I was in 8th class at that time.

I listened same cassette till end of my 9th class.In 10th I bought another cassette and from 10th ,My only interets was Lataji and I collected 3 suitcase full of Lataji' cassettes and that too in aplace where hindi music is not of much craze.

Her every note directly sits in my head and it will never be erased .

When she sings Allah thero naam , Ibecome a statue and I always love her devotional and bhajans .

As a matter o fact ,I love her private albulms more than film music , It is because when she sings a film song ,she has to show all her emotions in just 3 mins .But , when she makes an albulm completely on Meera or Ghalib ,she wonderfully brings out different emotions in a package of 12 songs and which is like a complete meal for me .

I am in US now and my love is accelerating because of the same loneliness again and the calm atmosphere here ,may be.

Now, I am listening her Bengali gems ..Song that is playing :- Mangal Dweep Jale .... My room is filled with silence and peace .