‘On the first day in school, she started teaching songs to other children. When the teacher stopped her, she was so angry that she stopped going to the school.’

Queen of melody, voice of the nation, Nightingale of India and the Voice of Millennium, there is just a dearth of good epithets for the singing Virtuoso, Lata Mangeshkar.

Lata-The Naming of the legend

Lata ji was named Hema at her birth. Her parents later renamed her Lata after a female character, Latika, in one of her father’s plays, Bhav Bandhan. She is the eldest daughter of her parents.

The family’s last name used to be Hardikar. Her father changed it to Mangeshkar in order to identify his family with his home town Mangeshi.

How Lata ji developed her own style

She is said to have imitated the famous singer Noor Jahan, but later she developed her own style of singing. Actor Dilip Kumar once made a mildly disapproving remark about her Maharashtrian accent while singing Hindi/Urdu songs so for a period of time. Hereby, Lata took lessons in Urdu from an Urdu teacher named Shafi.

Owing to her mellifluous voice, Lata ji developed her own unique style which we know to be the voice that is heard in over 40,000+ songs.

Lata ji’s Godfather

In 1948, Music Director Ghulam Haider mentored her as a singer. He introduced Mangeshkar to producer Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was then worked on the movie Shaheed, but Mukherjee dismissed Mangeshkar’s voice as “too thin”. An annoyed Haider responded that in coming years producers and directors would “fall at Lata’s feet” and “beg her” to sing in their movies. Haider gave Lata her first major break with the song “Dil Mera Toda, Mujhe Kahin Ka Na Chhora” in the movie Majboor , which became her first big breakthrough film hit.

In an interview on her 84th birthday, in September 2013, Lata herself declared,

“Ghulam Haider is truly my Godfather. He was the first music director who showed complete faith in my talent.”

 PM Nehru cried because Lata ji’s was a voice that could move anyone to tears

On 27 January 1963, against the backdrop of the Sino-Indian War, Lata ji sang the patriotic song “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon” in presence of Jawaharlal Nehru, then the Prime Minister of India. The pain in the voice and the great sacrifice by the brave soldiers moved the Prime Minister so much that he was in tears.

Lata – An Inspiration to a Magnum Opus

Raj Kapoor directed Satyam Shivam Sundaram in 1978. Lata Mangeshkar gave her voice to the main theme song “Satyam Shivam Sundaram”. It was among the top blockbuster songs of that year. The story of getting inspiration from Lata Mangeshkar is revealed by Raj Kapoor’s daughter Ritu Nanda in her latest book.
“I visualized the story of a man falling for a woman with an ordinary countenance but a golden voice and wanted to cast Lata Mangeshkar in the role.”

Hindi cinema’s greatest melodious voice will sing till eternity and beyond and in Martin Luther King Junior’s words,

“As long as we live, there is never enough singing.”
-Martin Luther

Neerja Bhanot, majorly known as the HIJACK HEROINE was a decent, affectionate, beautiful, courageous and selfless lady who sacrificed her life to save hundreds of passengers on board!

She was the miracle baby for her parents, and they often called her their Laado! Who knew that soon their 23 year old Laado would become a source of inspiration for million! Let’s get to know about some of her major life events.

Neerja was a ‘no problem’ child.

A child without any tantrums, she followed whatever her father said, without even questioning. She was mature from very young age. Neerja always wanted to make her parents proud which she wrote in a letter to her mother, right an year before she was killed by the terrorists.

A very successful model!

After graduating from St Xavier’s College in Mumbai, Neerja was approached by a photographer. This took her career to great heights and she was consequently approached for modeling in famous ads of various companies.

Neerja got married at the age of 22

Neerja’s early marriage was a decision by her father, and proved to be an ill-fated one.

She was constantly subjected to physical abuse, mental torture on the pretext of not providing with dowry. However the marriage ended in just 2 months.

Brave? She truely defines what bravery is!

Neerja showed exceptional amount of dare while dealing with the terrorists.

She was alert enough to understand the situation and immediately inform the pilots to abandon the plane, so that the plane couldn’t take off in an hijacked situation.

Her bravery saved the lives of about 300 passengers. She was shot dead while trying to save a 7 year old. She had an option to escape, but her conscience couldn’t allow her to leave the kid with the terrorists.That same kid is now a pilot and considers Neerja as his role model!

She was a workaholic

It is known that on the night of the flight, her mom tried to convince her to call the PAN AM and ask for a leave, since she had been working on a modeling project the whole day. But, her committed self didn’t allow her to skip.

Remembering who Neerja Bhanot was, can definitelty not be summed up within these lines. If one really wants to pay tribute to her, then it is by being more selfless, brave and compassionate, whatever the situation be.

“Ek taslim ko har baar meri aankh jhuki hai, aapko dekh ke badi der se meri saans ruki hai.”

This is how we feel when we read or listen to the eternal lines penned by the living legend, Gulzar Saab. His words are so intricately written, they never fail to make our heart skip a beat. Born as Sampooran Singh Kalra, he adopted Gulzar as his pen name. For so many years now he has excelled the art of Urdu and Hindi poetry.
He has always believed that nostalgia is the most important aspect for a writer. Even though nostalgia is distracting, he feels it and brings out the deepest thoughts to paper. If we talk about his genre, it is something uncountable. He has written for almost everything we usually wonder about. From “Aey zindagi gale laga le” to the patriotic “Aey watan, watan mere abaad rahe tu”, he has written about everything. Generations have loved to listen to his lines, for they are so full of realism and life.
Patriotism, love, heartbreak, life, relationships and even some item numbers: Gulzar saab has made them all feel so powerful. His love for words and expressions reflect in his work. His exquisite quotes have inspired many and still continue to remain the best. Here are some of his glorious works:

The man whose charisma reflects in his work has ruled Bollywood for ages. His personality in itself portrays a poet who has the honor of weaving most beautiful thoughts into words. There never was and can never be another Gulzar. He has given the industry the gift of unmatched literature.
When his words are given the beats of music, they become the most echoed songs of Bollywood. His poetry creates the magic that is absolutely soulful. Every soul feels the words written by Gulzar saab. His greatest possession as a poet has been the respect and connectivity people feel with him.
On his birthday today, Wordhazard pays tribute to the only unique man with an extraordinary art: Gulzar Saab.