Sorry Rolling Stones, Lata Mangeshkar Position Is  Not Listable

Dear Rolling Stones,

 Firstly, thank you  for  honouring our most precious  and  irreplaceable  Goddess Of  All Melodious Things among the  200  best singers  of all times.

 That she  is  positioned at  84 is a little laughable. Aretha Franklin  who  is  at the no.1 spot  is  a fabulous  singer  with a  staggering range. But how is  she better than our Lataji?How could she be? How could anyone be?  Lataji is  by any yardstick,incomparable. There has never been , and there  can never be  another  like her for as long as  civilization exists.

 Conversant as you are  with world music  and  inured  to all the musical trends  in  the world, how can I explain to  you, Rolling Stones, what  Lataji  means  to us Indians?She is the  Voice of  India, her  singing is that heartbeat on which our world revolves. If we  Indians don’t hear her sing for even a day, we feel  the ground slipping from under  our feet.

When  Lataji sings, we feel reassured that all is well in the world. Her  pristine soul-piercing voice  reminds us that  we will survive the barbaric brutality  of a  world that is rapidly losing its humanism. In a world where a woman is dragged  along with  a car for  one  and half hours, that voice comes as the  caress of comfort, the melody of  panacea.

Kahin toh milegi kabhi to  milegi bahaaron ki manzil , Raahi.

Have you heard her sing this anthem  of  healing? On my darkest nights when I am without hope, I listen to her sing Ae maalik tere bande hum , aise ho hamare karam,neki par chalen our badi se talen, taki hanste  hue nikle dum.

After she sings, the world seems  a better  place.

Can Aretha Franklin’s singing  heal the world the way Lataji did? We  appreciate Lataji’s presence in your  thoughtful  balanced  list of the greatest singers  of all times.

 But sorry, Rolling Stones, she is  far above such listings.

 Your  sincerely

Subhash  K Jha