Lata Mangeshkar, the legendary singer breathed her last on Sunday, Feb 6th 2022, after a prolonged illness at the age of 92. The Bharat Ratna Awardee singer was muse to some of the country’s greatest music composers. Talking about his inspiration for making music, the celebrated music composer S.D. Burman had once allegedly said, “Give me a harmonium, give me Lata (Mangeshkar) and I will make music.”
The life of Lata Mangeshkar
Mangeshkar, fondly referred to as ‘Didi’ by her fans, was born in Indore in 1929 to Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, a Marathi classical singer and theatre actor, and his Gujarati wife Shevanti. Her voice has been described as ‘virginally pure,’ and her playback for an actress symbolic of the latter having made it in Bollywood, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s when the singer was at her peak.
Mangeshkar began her career at the age of 13 after her father died, singing for a Marathi film called Kiti Hasal (1942). She has three sisters, Meena, Asha, and Usha, and a brother, Hridaynath, who are all outstanding singers and musicians. Her migration to Mumbai in 1945 was followed by modest roles in a few films till Aayega Aanewala, based on Madhubala in Mahal, gave her the major break (1949).
Having worked with composers as disparate as Anil Biswas, Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad Ali, S.D. Burman, C. Ramchandra, Hemant Kumar, Salil Chowdhury, Khayyam, Ravi, Sajjad Hussain, Roshan, Kalyanji-Anandji, Madan Mohan, and Usha Khanna over the next several years, Mangeshkar has the unique distinction of singing for around seven different generations of female actors
Philanthropy of Lata Mangeshkar
Aside from her melody, Mangeshkar also gave the people of the country a helping hand whenever they needed it. Her acts of philanthropy endeared her further to her fans. Let us look at some of the philanthropic activities that Lata Mangeshkar did in her life time.
COVID-Relief
Lata Mangeshkar contributed Rs. 7 lakh to the relief fund of the Maharashtra Chief Minister in order to help combat the Coronavirus pandemic in the state in May 2021. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray thanked Mangeshkar saying that they acknowledged her donation with gratitude. Mangeshkar also donated Rs 25 lakh earlier in 2020 for the same purpose Maharashtra was going through a severe rise in the infection cases. She along with her sisters Meena and Usha extended her support to Shree Mangesh Vaccination Fund, an initiative by Kalpana Hridaynath and Dr. Dhananjay Kelkar, to conduct free vaccination drive for COVID-19 vaccine.
Aid for the Families of Pulwama Martyrs
After the devastating Pulwama attack which claimed the lives of our jawans, Lata Mangeshkar stepped up in the aid of the families of the martyrs by committing to donate Rs. 1 Cr for them. The announcement made by her grandson Adinath further stated that friends and family of the Mangeshkar family will be donating an additional ₹11 lakh to families of BSF jawans martyred in Kashmir. In addition to this, the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar trust committed to donate Rs. 5 lakh for the cause.
Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital
Over two decades ago, in November 2001, the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital was set up in Pune in memory of Lata Mangeshkar‘s father. The late singer was keenly involved in the work herself and the vision of the family was to provide ethical medical services of the highest quality to patients at an affordable cost without discrimination.
Her passing has caused a lot of grief to us, and we at The CSR Journal pray for her soul to rest in peace.
