AR Rahman pays poignant tribute to late Lata Mangeshkar - "She is part of our soul, consciousness of India"

Veteran Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away at the age of 92 on February 6 morning due to multi-organ failure. She was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, where the singer was being treated after testing COVID-19 positive on January 8, 2022. While her health was improving, she was put on a ventilator earlier this week.

As tributes are pouring in for the legendary singer from all across the world, music maestro AR Rahman took to his YouTube channel to talk about his experience working with her, performing with Lata Mangeshkar and how she has been an inspiration to generations of musicians. "It's a very, very sad day for us. People really take it for granted. And somebody like Lata ji is not just a singer, not just an icon, I mean she is part of our soul, part of the consciousness of India, Hindustani music, Urdu poetry, Hindi poetry, Bengali and so many other languages she sang in. This void is gonna remain forever for all of us. My experience with her goes back to my dad who had passed away when I was very young. I had a picture of her near his bed, so you wake up with her face and get inspired to go to the recordings. So it starts there. For me, I'm so lucky to record a few songs with her, sing along with her be a part of a show where I learned probably one of the most important things about performing on stage. I have never taken my singing seriously because I always imagined myself as a composer, a musician."

Love, respect and prayers ???? @mangeshkarlata pic.twitter.com/PpJb1AdUdc

— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) February 6, 2022

Recalling her work ethic, he continued, "The few songs, which are composed for her, after the rehearsals at 4 pm, she would go to the room, sit with her assistant and start singing that very slowly, every lyric clearly. I just passed that side and said, 'Is that her practicing for the show?' And that one incident changed my life. So then, every show I go to, I would just go off and put a damper on practice, getting a warm-up done, every lyric coming out the way it comes up, the intention behind the song. One day, I was just speaking to her and she said, 'You know those days Naushaad Sahab used to make us come for 11 days for rehearsals.' I asked, 'How long do you take?' She said 'No, I would learn it immediately but he'd still insist that we go eleven days for rehearsals.' Then you understand the depth of each song that's so much of an investment of time, love, spirituality, passion."

He concluded by saying, "All we can do is just celebrate and learn from this legend who's left us. God bless her soul."

Tribute to Lata Ji ????https://t.co/zSvdo7GOYX #LataMangeshkar

— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) February 6, 2022

AR Rahman composed several songs that were crooned by Lata Mangeshkar including 'Ek Tu Hi Bharosa' from Pukar (2000), 'So Gaye Hain' from the movie Zubeidaa (2001), 'O Paalanhaare' from Lagaan (2001), 'Luka Chuppi' from Rang De Basanti (2006), and 'Laadli' from the album Raunaq (2014).

In the memory of the legendary singer, as per reports, two-day national mourning will be observed in the memory of Lata Mangeshkar. The National flag will be flying at half-mast for two days, as a mark of tribute. A state funeral will be accorded to the late Bharat Ratna recipient at Shivaji Park on Sunday evening at 6:30 pm.