New Delhi
On her first day of school, Lata Mangeshkar took younger sister Asha, then aged about 10 months, with her. When her teacher objected to it, she angrily went back home never to return again and learnt Marathi alphabet from her house help who taught her to read and write.
At that time, her cousin Vasanti was studying in Class 3 at a school opposite their house in Sangli. She would tag along with Vasanti and whenever the latter had a music lesson, little Lata used to attentively listen to the teacher.
One day, the teacher asked Vasanti who the girl was. “I jumped up saying: ‘I am Master Deenanath’s daughter!’ She said: ‘He is such a great singer. Can you sing?’
I told her I could sing many raags, and rattled off their names: Malkauns, Hindol, etc.
She led me straight off to the staff room where all the teachers were sitting and asked me to sing. So, I sang a classical song based on Hindol. I was four or five,” she later told filmmaker author Nasreen Munni Kabir, who adapted these conversations as a book titled “Lata Mangeshkar...in her own voice”.
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