Bengaluru, Feb 7 : Once Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej apologised to “Voice of India” Lata Mangeshkar. Why? It is an interesting anecdote. It happened as soon as he landed in the Bengaluru Airport in February 2015, he received a call from a landline number. “I picked up the phone and a young 16 year-old voice asked me in Hindi “Is this Ricky Kej”, I said yes, and asked who it was? She said “I am Lata”.. and I replied “Who Lata??” I did not know any Lata! She repeated “I am Lata, a singer”.. again I asked her who she was.. just then her manager took her phone and explained..
“This is Lata Mangeshkar.. THE Lata Mangeshkar!!!!!,” Kej said, sharing the incident on his Facebook page. “I then apologized to her profusely, she laughed. I joked with her that she sounds like a 16 years old!! She laughed even more and told me that a lot of people say that. We spoke for half an hour as I circled around the baggage belt at the arrivals terminal. While I was calling her “ma’am”, she told me I could call her Didi,” he noted. Kej further said:
“Didi and I spoke about music, my career, she told me she loves my style of music and she listens to it a lot. We also spoke about my grandfather, whom coincidentally she knew. Didi gave me her blessings, and since then I have had the pleasure of speaking to her a few more times. Always so humble, gracious and generous with her time and words.” Lata also sent Kej a beautiful citation praising his work which he has framed in his studio.
“Lata Didi will live on forever, through her voice and through her kindness. RIP Lata Didi Absolutely devastated. A true legend, the greatest ever,” he said. Lata Mangeshkar, also known as the ‘Nightingale of India’, on Sunday had passed away at the age of 92. She was admitted to a Mumbai hospital in early January this year, after she tested positive for Covid-19 and was also diagnosed with pneumonia.
