Did You Know Lata Mangeshkar Was Once Given Slow Poison?
Lata Mangeshkar, the highest priestess of Indian Cinema industry who single-handedly dominated the throne of leading female singer for about 5 decades with her mellifluous and bewitching voice, has stepped into the 89th year of her life today. Aka the nightingale of India, Lata started her career at the age of 13 in 1942 and recorded her last song in 2015. 73 Years!
More than 7 decades of career, 25,000 songs that made her THE LATA MANGESHKAR. But do you know that she was given slow poison in initial years of her career?
As shocking as it may sound, the fact stands true. In 1962, she was given slow poison after which she was unconscious. The doctor came with an X-ray machine to examine her condition. For three days her health as critical almost as if she was battling with death. It took almost 10 days before she began to recover. The slow poison left her weak which is why she was bedridden for nearly 3 months. Bollywood lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri took the charge of taking Lata Mageshkar’s care in his hand and paid her regular visits.
The person behind the slow poison incident wasn’t identified but soon after this incident, the cook who used to work at Lata Mangeshkar’s place vanished without taking his wages. He was suspected of poisoning her. The rumor has it, that the cook used to work with other Bollywood people and it was someone among those people who tried to kill her.
Majrooh Sultanpuri started visiting at Lataji’ place everyday at 6 pm so that he can taste the food first and then allow her to eat.
If slow poison wasn’t detected earlier we would have lost the most prized possession of Indian singing world ever. Soon after she recovered Lata Mangeshkar recorded the legendary patriotic song “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo”.
Born in the family of performers, Lataji entertained, moved, and, sew a set of melodies with her vocal treasures. Even today each of her songs brings the wave of emotions leaving everyone overwhelmed.
She has turned 88 today and here are some of Lata Mangeshkar’s evergreen songs that will continue to reside in our hearts.