http://o3.indiatimes.com/pratiksha/archive...02/2830028.aspx

Tu to nahi hai lekin..teri muskurahatein hai…
Chehra kahi nahi hai par teri ahatein hai…
Tu hai kahan kahan hai… tera nishan kaha hai…mera jahan kaha hai…
Mein adhura…tu adhuri..jee rahi hai…. E ajnabi..tu bhi kabhi…awaz de kahi se…

My morning began with an old AR Rehman concert. I'm a fan of any good music. And this morning when songs of Sathiya and Dil Se and Zubeida started… my heart was melting bit by bit…song by song..

Lata Mangeshkar was on stage, singing Rehman numbers. She was introduced as 'The Immortal Lata Mangeshkar'. She is melody personified. Well, anyone, even a tiny bit interested in Hindi film music has grown up on staple diet of Lata-Asha songs. But on this stage I could see that at 78, Lataji was faltering through the songs. I was wondering, how does she feel when her voice doesn't follow the same old notes. Music is still between those 7 surs… But when you out-grow that… what kind of feeling is it? I'm sure she still remembers the kind of songs she has been singing for decade after decade...And she also knows that there is a difference Then, now and then...

To be able to sing the way I used to, to be able to write the way I used to, to be able to see the way I used to, to be able to drive the way I used to, to be able to love the way I used to.

Growth and decay run parallel... how does it feel?

My observation goes to my two granpas…nanabapu and dadaji… both of them are unable to read newspapers (which is very important for a family full of journos). Both have crossed 75. One has given up reading and relies on listening to radio and TV news…another one is struggling to make something out of a newspaper with magnifying glass. Yet… life isn't the same.

These are the very people who used to take me to market and Porbandar beach and buy newspapers during those vacations. After returning we would divide pages of one single newspaper to read. Ah, change! They can't read what I write.

Time melts too… and the music created in the past stays and helps in strengthening the present. Future… well, let it be frozen for a while...

I'll wait for Shreya Ghoshal to reach 78. I might not write a blog then.

Very nice piece. Reminds me of thoe umpteen shows when they invite yesteryears' actors and run clips of some of their golden moments on screen. Often one can spot those fleeting feelings of wistfulness on the faces of the actors...''if only I could have been perennially young..."

very nice piece of blog.

i think its about what one wants to do rather than what one is expected to do.

i never saw lata singing in early 50's and 60's but i enjoy her live shows' videos because watching her sing makes me feel good..better.. once my father was sleeping in the same room where i keep my computer and i didnt have any headphones so i just muted the volume and watched the show.

You are such a fan Auggie

I enjoyed the rest of Pratiksha's writing too, thank you for the pointer Kusum ji.

Very nice and thought provoking.
What we take for granted today may not be so tomorrow.
Fans who grew up listening to Lata and Mukesh and Rafi and other legends will still prefer them even when they are not at best.