This Grammy is getting old. She is losing her teeth and probably her mind, too. Why else would she fail to acknowledge the passing away of our Goddess Of All Melodious Things, Lata Mangeshkar, two years ago in the Grammy Awards ceremony’s ‘In Memoriam’ category? And now it is another Indian musical legend, Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain’s turn to go unacknowledged.
Lataji was, and is, to music what the universe is to the galaxy. So okay, non-Indians may not feel as strongly about her as we do. But the Grammys are music awards. They are meant to acknowledge the best in the field of music all across the world. What is music without Lataji? Music IS Lata Mangeshkar in the Asian sub-continent. By failing to acknowledge Lataji, you have insulted the entire Asian population, which worships her and acknowledges her as a reincarnation of Goddess Saraswati.
So, in ignoring the Goddess Of All Melodious Things, the Grammys are telling us what we always suspected: that India, vis-à-vis the West, would always remain a third-world country. Even a third-rate musician from the West is more important to the Grammys than Lataji, who is much, much more than a singer, and Zakir Hussain, the pasha of percussive persuasion.
It isn’t Lataji who has been snubbed—she is far beyond such mundane acknowledgements. It is us Indians all across the globe who stand chastened.
As someone who has worshipped her from my childhood, I can only hang my head in shame at how openly disdainful America continues to be of our heritage. We nonetheless continue to slavishly nibble at whatever crumbs the West throws our way.
But then I know how much Lataji would have laughed at a time like this when she has been ignored.
I remember many years ago when she had won the Padma Vibhushan. The Bharat Ratna was yet to come.
“Why haven’t they given you the Bharat Ratna?” I had protested.
Her laughter and her response still rings in my ears. “Padma Vibhushan or Bharat Ratna. Kya farq padta hai? Farq yeh padta hai ke aapko farq padd raha hai(what matters is that you feel pained about it). Mere liye wohi sabsa bada award hai.”
There will never in the history of civilization be another like you, Lataji.
