Please Keep Lataji Out Of Politics

In her latest interview  with Arnab Goswami—it seems  they continue to be comrades—Kangan Ranaut has spoken about how she has lost multi-crores worth of endorsement deals  for labeling  farmers as  “terrorists”. Money, as we  can see, is not  important to Kangana.The Nation’s integrity is.

 In  the same  interview Kangana has  taken  fresh swipes at Rihanna calling her  a non-singer.  Kangana then proceeds to lavish praise  on our  own Bharat Ratna , the  Nightingale of India  , Lata  Mangeshkar, saying that  she , and not Rihanna, is  a real singer.

“Lataji just has to stand and sing and lakhs listen in rapt attention,” Kangana says.

This is  not  the first time I’ve heard Kangana praise the Goddess Of All Melodious Things. On  Lataji’s birthday  also Kangana had spoken glowingly  about the  singing enchantress.

   But then Lataji is no ordinary singer. To bring her into this openly political discussion is  unfair. Specially 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.