Lata Mangeshkar might have been part of many phases of my life. But most of my reverence for her is attributed to her contribution to my personal history lessons. There are 2 episodes I would like to mention here:
The first one was long back when I read my first book "Shriman Yogi" by Ranjit Desai after my 10th exam. When Senapati Prataprao Gujar, in a fit of anger and guilt attacked 15k troops of Behlol Khan with 6 other soldiers. When I was reading this book, it just hit me that "Vedata Marathe veer daudale saat" was the song describing this very piece of history. It was as if this episode was part of my life since childhood, a kind courtesy of Lata didi, and was waiting to be revealed later when I would take up history lessons.
The second episode happened when I was studying Veer Savarkar. When I was going through "Mazi Janmathep" a biography book of Veer Savarkar, I also studied his life in brief. At this point, I was also away from my home for education. And the song "Sagara Pran Talamalala" hit perfect notes with me. The words, the music everything just hits you.
A brief discussion on "Sagara Pran Talamalala" with Lata didi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHqINKBwfNM
