Celebrating Her 76th Birthday

While she turns 76 on Oct 28, it's hard to associate any age with Lata. She's as timeless as she's timely. Every era in the film industry from 1949 onwards has seen her songs defining Hindi cinema. Even today an avant-garde film like "Page 3" is defined by Lataji's song "Kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahan par". Lata never takes her success seriously. Though scores of people have used her indomitable name to further their career and then burnt their bridges with her, she has never become embittered by the volte-face. "Why should people's changed attitude affect me? I admit it does for a while. I'm the kind of person who thinks, broods and agonises over the slightest of aberrancy...why did so and so speak so loudly with me...why did this singer not smile at me when I smiled at her? But after a point I let go," Lata told IANS. "There was this music director who had virtually grown up in front of me. In fact I had held him in my lap when he was a child. Some time ago when I was unable to sing his song he told my secretary, 'She should realise she's no longer what she used to be.' I've never claimed to be anything special, so why should I realise I'm not special?" Lata asks in an unguarded moment. "To lose something, you have to posses it first". So many musicians have come and gone, using her name, fame and karma to further their career and then moved on...or worse still, move next door to befriend the other sister, Asha Bhosle.