'Naam gum jayega, chehra ye badal jayega, meri aawaz hi meri pehachan hai' — Lata di must have felt this song to her heart when she sang it. The identity she had been able to mould through her voice has no parallels. In her over seven-decade long singing career, Lata Mangeshkar lent her magical voice to a vast multitude of moods — mingling magic to our life, generations after generation. An artist is expected to transcend boundaries, which Lata di did with extreme perfection — maintaining her relevance across time, beyond boundaries. Like the greatest of artists, she has outlived death. Her departure from the earthly world cannot be equated with death. Won't her voice spring up and live a breath every single time our beating heart's outpourings find expression through her melodious songs! Irrespective of what science says, Lata's admirers and worshippers find it hard to digest that she has died. Allow her fans — old and young — to believe that she is still alive, at least through her voice. At the cost of repeating the known, it has to be said that Lata Mangeshkar's life has been about struggle in the initial years and unparalleled fame and reverence after the time she was approaching her thirties. Born as Hema on September 28, 1929 in Indore, Lata was eldest among her siblings — Usha, Asha, Meena and Hridyanath. She received the singing legacy from her father Dinanath Mangeshkar — who was also a theatre artist and had renamed her as Lata after a theatrical character Latika. As a music artist, it almost seemed obvious then to have an association with All India Radio. It is known that Lata di referred to AIR as her 'badi behan' (elder sister) because she was born a couple of months after the establishment of All India Radio. After the death of her father when she was 13, Lata Mangeshkar — being eldest among siblings — had to shoulder the responsibility of sustaining the entire family. She moved to Mumbai somewhere around the mid-1940s. Lata di got a break in Vasant Joglekar's film 'Aapki Sewa Me' in 1946 but received wider recognition for her first popular song 'Aayega Aayega' in Kamal Amrohi's film 'Mahal' (1948) under the composition of Khemchand Prakash. Lata di was ruled out by a few established film producers and directors at that time because of her thin voice. 'Mature' voices used to be the preference then. In fact, Lata Mangeshkar herself was a great admirer of Nur Jahan and Kundan Lal Saigal. It is said that when Sashadhar Mukherjee refused her for his film starring Dliip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal in late 1940s, Lata's mentor Ghulam Haidar made a prophecy that she would become the most popular singer of the Indian film industry. His prophecy turned into an irrefutable reality in the years that followed. From 1950 onwards, many co-singers and music composers came and went, but the magic of Lata stayed. From classical Naushad to enchanting AR Rahman, and from Md Rafi and Mukesh to Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam, her range of work is incomparable in the music industry. She has sung thousands of songs in over 30 languages and most of them are remembered today as masterclass. Lata Mangeshkar's name is recorded in Guinness Book of World Record for singing the most number of songs between 1974 and 1990. When we talk of Lata Mangeshkar's timeless relevance, it comes to mind that she made the first Prime Minister of India weep with her soulful singing of Kavi Pradip's 'Aye mere watan ke logo', and was so emotionally connected to the Present Prime Minister. While she synced so well with the classical tunes of Naushad, Madan Mohan was his brother-like music composer. Her collaboration with Laxmikant Pyarelal is still a landmark in terms of prolificity. There's hardly any ace music composer that she didn't finetune with — Shankar-Jaikishan, Salil Chowdhary, Chitragupta, RD Burman, AR Rahman are just a few names in the list. It is also amazing as to how she adjusted her voice from golden-era actors like Madhubala, Nutan, Saira Bano etc. to the new-age actors like Manisha Koirala and Madhuri Dixit. Even more amazing has been the way she had transcended national boundaries. It is said that a letter from a listener in Lahore came to All India Radio at some point in time, which read that Pakistan could stop demanding Kashmir from India if they were allowed claim over Lata Mangeshkar! Controversies apart, the point that is meant to be highlighted here is the love and respect she commanded from people across the globe. On her demise, many international music lovers, including topmost ministers from Pakistan and Bangladesh, paid their heartfelt tributes to their beloved Lata di. Apart from most of the prestigious awards given in India, Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar was conferred France's Legion of Honour. One of the prime objectives of art is to unite people. Lata's height of artistic expression is visible in the manner she offered a thread of connectivity not just among Indians but also the global music lovers. Words fail us as we seek to compact a musical universe in small writing pieces. The world has lost one of its finest gems, but her light will keep illuminating us for years. Lata Mangeshkar's voice is etched in the emotion of India and emotions don't die. Do they?