"एक दर्शन ध्यानीमनी नसताना घडले. 'दर्शन' ह्या कल्पनेचीच एक असाधारण प्रचीती आली. ती त्यातल्या अकल्पितपणामुळे तर मनाला जास्त बिलगून राहिली... दर्शन घ्यायला जावून दर्शन घडवून घेण्यात तो आनंद लाभलाही नसता..." - पु. ल. देशपांडे "दर्शन"
After a long debate about the summer vacation plans, we had finalized Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and Southern Utah as destination. Had heard a lot about all of these and seen far too many pictures; so were very excited. Made all the reservations to avoid missing the few lodging choices inside the national parks… all set… in March, for a June-end vacation! Only then – did my wife discover the BMM announcement that Lata Mangeshkar will be the keynote speaker at their 1997 convention in Boston… on the July 4 weekend! The phrase ‘diehard fan’ is woefully inadequate to express my feelings about Lata… even today after listening to her songs easily hundreds of thousands of time, I still suddenly discover and gasp at a new nuance of how she sings a particular word! To me there is no other female voice superior to that – my opinion for last 40 plus years… roughly since I started listening to her (and others’) songs. If I was religious, could have called myself a devotee of hers! So, did want to go to the convention – to be able to see her on stage, and just possibly (wild dreams!) may be able to exchange few words! But now, with the convention smack in the middle of our planned and paid for vacation, this was not possible. A real, major disappointment! Then, a little later came the update, “She would only be speaking at the BMM; not singing at all”! Well, our disappointment at missing the convention came down several notches!
So off we went to Vegas, our first stop. This mecca of opulence and extravagance was quite well prepared to welcome even someone like me – totally disinterested in gambling. Just a stroll down the main strip is enough to be totally dumbstruck by the out-of-this-world razzle-dazzle. If money is no object, one wants to flaunt and the imagination is limitless – Las Vegas is what is possible!
Our first morning there, we started the rounds of casinos. MGM Grand – one of the biggest names those days – was definitely in the cards. The MGM lobby was glittering as if all the stars of the yesteryear MGM movies had descended there for a gala! I started studying the map to get our moorings – these casinos are so huge that you need maps and directions! It was then that my wife nudged me and just whispered ‘it is her!’ That short phrase did not make sense – my wife, never stingy with words, usually employs about twenty seven where three might suffice. This had to be big!
So I turned around – and around – while she kept whispering even more urgent and hissing ‘don’t stare; it looks bad’. I wasn’t too worried about looking bad – a because there were far too many people, busy dropping their jaws at the glittering lobby to catch me doing anything silly and b I didn’t know who I should be staring at, so was only idly scanning. Finally I asked – in Marathi – so the throngs of humanity around us would not understand – ‘who should I not stare at?’ At this point, exasperated, she held my arm and dragged me towards a wall and then looking straight down at the floor, quietly said ‘that was Lata Mangeshkar there, right next to us’! Yes, we had spent a lot of time discussing Lata lately, but at that moment I did believe my wife has lost it – she has started conjuring up Lata wherever we go!
So, just to disprove her, I looked back at where we were standing… and saw these two sari-clad Indian ladies, paused and looking around. One of them … did look a little like Lata… but of course not…, it just couldn’t be! I mean, HOW! Why would she be in Vegas! If anything, she is supposed to be in Boston… in a few days! I must be thinking aloud, because I heard a sharp and cold ‘have you heard about airplanes?’ ‘but… but she looks too petite!’ ‘Oh sorry, when were you last standing next to her?’ I tried my last best… ‘how come she is not surrounded by a mob?’ ‘Did you notice there are only about six Indians here – and four of them are our family?’ Well… grudgingly I gave in! After all, my admiration for Lata is such that, a minor thing like possibly making a fool of myself was not going to deter me from this golden opportunity … just in case she WAS her! It was my devotion that was holding me back, never had a reason to believe so much in my luck…
So I approached her, and as gently as I could make my voice become, asked her ‘aap Lata ji hain?’ (so confident that she must not be – that didn’t even want to speak in Marathi!). She just smiled and said yes. That moment was eons long…. this lady, whose heavenly sweet voice has always surrounded me essentially since I started listening to music, who is so firmly ensconced in my heart, who made it so hard for me to ever accept any voice short of divinely melodious, whose top 100 songs I could list off the cuff at a moment’s notice because they are always playing in my mind, who has kept me so busy finding all the little harkat and murki at little words and gaps in her songs – was right there, in flesh and blood, and I was there too, in the same room… couple feet away and was actually awake – this was unreal!
By then, my wife had joined us probably noting my face did not have that ‘I told you!’ smirk but instead was simply delirious with joy! So, we spoke with Lata ji. She inquired about us, the children and some other questions … I was mechanically answering, but the only thing registering in the brain was “this voice sounds exactly as sweet simply chatting as it does in ‘Rasik balama’ and ‘mohe bhul gaye sawariya’ and ‘yeh zindagi usiki hai’… “. I am fairly sure I must have said some imbecilic things like ‘your voice is so amazing’ or “just love your ‘sapaneme sajan se do baaten’”… because I do recall her very patient and understanding smiles. Hopefully my blabbering was minimal because its only purpose was to keep hearing her voice. We chatted for a good 10-15 minutes; informed her that we couldn’t be there at the convention (sure she was heartbroken at the prospect of not finding us among the few thousand Maharashtrians there!) Asked for her permission to take a picture of her (THIS is what being dumbstruck is! Did not even think of asking for our picture WITH her!), which she readily granted. The very wise and enormously gracious lady accompanying her offered to take our picture with Lata – must have been accustomed to seeing the mere mortals losing their wits in presence of the singing goddess.
And then they went along on their way… we were stuck to that spot for some more time… still recovering, still checking with each other if it really happened, still recounting what she said and how she said it… Oh, in the meantime, my wife had turned back to human from a smiling wordless statue that she had become for the last 15 minutes… I was kind of vaguely aware that she had not uttered a word in presence of Lata. Always knew it will take some higher divine powers, to keep her silent for extended periods … like more than 5 minutes…
The casino PA system around us was blaring announcements every five or ten minutes… someone winning $10K vacation, or winning a brand new car, or some such mundane prize! Crowds were going ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ with each announcement, applauding, green with envy, marveling the winners’ incredible luck… nobody had the time to see the ecstatic smiles on our faces. In Vegas, they don’t announce anyone winning the priceless prizes like a memory to cherish for the lifetime!
After a long debate about the summer vacation plans, we had finalized Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and Southern Utah as destination. Had heard a lot about all of these and seen far too many pictures; so were very excited. Made all the reservations to avoid missing the few lodging choices inside the national parks… all set… in March, for a June-end vacation! Only then – did my wife discover the BMM announcement that Lata Mangeshkar will be the keynote speaker at their 1997 convention in Boston… on the July 4 weekend! The phrase ‘diehard fan’ is woefully inadequate to express my feelings about Lata… even today after listening to her songs easily hundreds of thousands of time, I still suddenly discover and gasp at a new nuance of how she sings a particular word! To me there is no other female voice superior to that – my opinion for last 40 plus years… roughly since I started listening to her (and others’) songs. If I was religious, could have called myself a devotee of hers! So, did want to go to the convention – to be able to see her on stage, and just possibly (wild dreams!) may be able to exchange few words! But now, with the convention smack in the middle of our planned and paid for vacation, this was not possible. A real, major disappointment! Then, a little later came the update, “She would only be speaking at the BMM; not singing at all”! Well, our disappointment at missing the convention came down several notches!
So off we went to Vegas, our first stop. This mecca of opulence and extravagance was quite well prepared to welcome even someone like me – totally disinterested in gambling. Just a stroll down the main strip is enough to be totally dumbstruck by the out-of-this-world razzle-dazzle. If money is no object, one wants to flaunt and the imagination is limitless – Las Vegas is what is possible!
Our first morning there, we started the rounds of casinos. MGM Grand – one of the biggest names those days – was definitely in the cards. The MGM lobby was glittering as if all the stars of the yesteryear MGM movies had descended there for a gala! I started studying the map to get our moorings – these casinos are so huge that you need maps and directions! It was then that my wife nudged me and just whispered ‘it is her!’ That short phrase did not make sense – my wife, never stingy with words, usually employs about twenty seven where three might suffice. This had to be big!
So I turned around – and around – while she kept whispering even more urgent and hissing ‘don’t stare; it looks bad’. I wasn’t too worried about looking bad – a because there were far too many people, busy dropping their jaws at the glittering lobby to catch me doing anything silly and b I didn’t know who I should be staring at, so was only idly scanning. Finally I asked – in Marathi – so the throngs of humanity around us would not understand – ‘who should I not stare at?’ At this point, exasperated, she held my arm and dragged me towards a wall and then looking straight down at the floor, quietly said ‘that was Lata Mangeshkar there, right next to us’! Yes, we had spent a lot of time discussing Lata lately, but at that moment I did believe my wife has lost it – she has started conjuring up Lata wherever we go!
So, just to disprove her, I looked back at where we were standing… and saw these two sari-clad Indian ladies, paused and looking around. One of them … did look a little like Lata… but of course not…, it just couldn’t be! I mean, HOW! Why would she be in Vegas! If anything, she is supposed to be in Boston… in a few days! I must be thinking aloud, because I heard a sharp and cold ‘have you heard about airplanes?’ ‘but… but she looks too petite!’ ‘Oh sorry, when were you last standing next to her?’ I tried my last best… ‘how come she is not surrounded by a mob?’ ‘Did you notice there are only about six Indians here – and four of them are our family?’ Well… grudgingly I gave in! After all, my admiration for Lata is such that, a minor thing like possibly making a fool of myself was not going to deter me from this golden opportunity … just in case she WAS her! It was my devotion that was holding me back, never had a reason to believe so much in my luck…
So I approached her, and as gently as I could make my voice become, asked her ‘aap Lata ji hain?’ (so confident that she must not be – that didn’t even want to speak in Marathi!). She just smiled and said yes. That moment was eons long…. this lady, whose heavenly sweet voice has always surrounded me essentially since I started listening to music, who is so firmly ensconced in my heart, who made it so hard for me to ever accept any voice short of divinely melodious, whose top 100 songs I could list off the cuff at a moment’s notice because they are always playing in my mind, who has kept me so busy finding all the little harkat and murki at little words and gaps in her songs – was right there, in flesh and blood, and I was there too, in the same room… couple feet away and was actually awake – this was unreal!
By then, my wife had joined us probably noting my face did not have that ‘I told you!’ smirk but instead was simply delirious with joy! So, we spoke with Lata ji. She inquired about us, the children and some other questions … I was mechanically answering, but the only thing registering in the brain was “this voice sounds exactly as sweet simply chatting as it does in ‘Rasik balama’ and ‘mohe bhul gaye sawariya’ and ‘yeh zindagi usiki hai’… “. I am fairly sure I must have said some imbecilic things like ‘your voice is so amazing’ or “just love your ‘sapaneme sajan se do baaten’”… because I do recall her very patient and understanding smiles. Hopefully my blabbering was minimal because its only purpose was to keep hearing her voice. We chatted for a good 10-15 minutes; informed her that we couldn’t be there at the convention (sure she was heartbroken at the prospect of not finding us among the few thousand Maharashtrians there!) Asked for her permission to take a picture of her (THIS is what being dumbstruck is! Did not even think of asking for our picture WITH her!), which she readily granted. The very wise and enormously gracious lady accompanying her offered to take our picture with Lata – must have been accustomed to seeing the mere mortals losing their wits in presence of the singing goddess.
And then they went along on their way… we were stuck to that spot for some more time… still recovering, still checking with each other if it really happened, still recounting what she said and how she said it… Oh, in the meantime, my wife had turned back to human from a smiling wordless statue that she had become for the last 15 minutes… I was kind of vaguely aware that she had not uttered a word in presence of Lata. Always knew it will take some higher divine powers, to keep her silent for extended periods … like more than 5 minutes…
The casino PA system around us was blaring announcements every five or ten minutes… someone winning $10K vacation, or winning a brand new car, or some such mundane prize! Crowds were going ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ with each announcement, applauding, green with envy, marveling the winners’ incredible luck… nobody had the time to see the ecstatic smiles on our faces. In Vegas, they don’t announce anyone winning the priceless prizes like a memory to cherish for the lifetime!
What a nice literal treat.... You had mentioned this when we met last in Mumbai. But to read it here gave me a feeling of having met her in person. I have no words to describe what I felt reading this article... because I have a poor vocabulary. But it sounded like a literal blast of emotions. The last sentence was the icing on the cake. Keep writing .... I would keep reading. (Because writing is not my cup of tea).
ReplyDeleteShree Marathe.
Thanks Shree, for your kind words and for noting the punch in the last line... :) You can see other articles by checking index on the right side... Hope you enjoy :)
ReplyDelete