In her latest interview with Arnab Goswami—it seems they continue to be comrades—Kangan Ranaut has spoken about how she has lost the multi-crores worth of endorsement deals for labelling farmers as “terrorists”. Money, as we can see, is not important to Kangana. The Nation’s integrity is.
But then Lataji is no ordinary singer. To bring her into this openly political discussion is unfair. Especially she is 91 now and remains largely confined to her home. As someone very close to her, I would like to thank Kangana for giving Lataji the respect she deserves. But I’d also request her to keep Lataji out of political discussions. Her art, her singing, her creativity demolishes all borders. To even speak of her in the same breath as any other singer, dead or alive, is in my opinion sacrilegious.
Lata Mangeshkar is our most precious National treasure. When she received the Bharat Ratna it was the Bharat Ratna that was honoured more than she. Her voice has defined everything beautiful in our universe for decades. We Lata bhakts are neither Hindus nor Muslims.
On my passport, the column marked religion says ‘Lata Mangeshkar’. Her art is stamped on every breath I take. We Indians owe a lot more to Lataji than a mere nod in a political discussion where an American performer is being ridiculed. Lataji is too precious and valuable to be brought into nightly screaming sessions on news channels. Even Kangana would agree with that.
And the greatest respect we can pay this one-woman institution is to keep her out of politics.
Image Source: Instagram/lata_mangeshkar, youtube/anandghan, spotboye archive images
Image Source: Instagram/lata_mangeshkar, youtube/anandghan, spotboye archive images