Saddened by Lata ji’s demise she said, “It’s very sad as one of the irreplaceable personalities of our nation has left us forever. Legends will be there but we won’t get someone like Lata Mangeshkar again. “Lata ji ek hi thi, ek hi hai aur hamesha ek hi rahegi”(Lata ji was, is and will be the only one). And I am fortunate enough that I knew her since the 1940s. There is no other personality in this film industry who is associated with her for such a long period. In today’s date, if we see, from our film industry, there was one Dilip Kumar who belonged to that 40s era, another one was Lata ji and I am the third one.”
While talking, Tabassum couldn’t stop praising the singer and shared some anecdotes that explained how Lata ji was as a human being. “Apart from her excellence in singing, she was also a great human being. I still remember in the year 1949, I did a film called ‘Badi Behen’. Suraiya starred opposite Rehman
saab in that film. During that time, the recording of a very famous song, ‘
Chup chup khade ho zaroor koi baat hai’ was taking place. This song was picturised on Geeta Bali and I remember during the recording, Lata ji had sung this song with some other girl in the studio and the entire unit was present at the recording studio along with me to just see her singing. Interestingly, for the recording, Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum were also present just to see the new girl (Lata ji) who sings extremely well. I have a clear memory of Lata ji seeking blessings from both of them. That showed her humility and admiration towards the elder people.”
“There is a lot to say about Lata ji but days will fall short if we speak. I am fortunate enough to meet, interview, and do some shows along with her in India and abroad. I would like to narrate an incident that will always remain close to my heart. The incident is an example of Lata ji’s greatness. Once we had shared a stage, wherein I was narrating on one mic and she was singing on the other mic. You will find that picture on the internet, where we both are sharing the stage. I had a list of her songs with the script and I would take the name of the song and she would sing it on the stage. I don’t know how but I made a mistake during the show and missed the chronology of the song. But Lata ji without pinpointing my mistake started singing the song which I mentioned while narrating. That was so heart-touching for me. It’s always a big thing to hide someone else’s mistake. I am honoured, feeling fortunate, and grateful to her that she sang one song for me in the 1951 film ‘Deedar’. The music was given by Naushad Ali saab. The song is ‘Bachpan ke din bhula na dena, aaj hase kal rula na dena’. Lata ji has made my childhood immortal with this song. Despite being 77 years old, people still call me baby Tabassum (chuckles) even now while some address me as senior citizen baby Tabassum,” she shares.
“She was very humorous and would like to do
masti all the time. I did interviews with her on stage but unfortunately, I never did her interview on television. I remember I had asked her once about wearing a red sindoor despite being unmarried. But she smiled and replied, ‘
Yeh sindoor hai sangeet ke naam’ (This sindoor is for my love towards music). For her everything was music. It’s been a while we hadn’t met but we had a conversation over a phone call a while ago and she had said that she was not feeling good and had stopped stepping out and meeting people, and also spoke about how old age takes a toll on mind and health. How a young becomes an adult, then old, and how gradually one starts preparing for the departure. So she used to say very scientific and practical things. I can go on and on talking about her but to conclude this, I will say something in the honour of Lata ji, “
Jo beet gaye hain woh zamane nahi aate… aate hain naye log, purane nahi aate,” sums up Tabassum with a heavy heart.
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