Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away on Sunday (February 6) at the age of 92. She was admitted to Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital after she was tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, on January 8. She did show signs of improvement recently but her health started deteriorating. But eventually the ‘Nightingale of India,’ Lata Mangeshkar, passed away on February 6.
Lata Mangeshkar, a recipient of Bharat Ratna, Padma Bhushan, Dadasaheb Phalke awards, sang close to 30,000 songs.
Love for cricket
Lata Mangeshkar has always been a close follower of the game of cricket and her love for cricket is a well-known fact.
After India’s historic World Cup victory in 1983, former cricketer and administrator Raj Singh Dungarpur requested Lata Mangeshkar to do a musical event in Delhi in order to raise money which would help Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in rewarding the World Cup-winning cricketers of the Indian team.
According to biography of Raj Singh Dungarpur by Samar Singh and Harsh Vardhan, former Union Minister N.K.P. Salve, who was President of BCCI revealed that “Raj Singh came up with a brilliant idea of requesting Lata Mangeshkar to do a musical programme in Delhi to raise money for the purpose, as the BCCI was not flush with funds in those days.
“Lataji agreed and helped raise a substantial amount that enabled the BCCI to reward each player of the winning team with Rs 1 lakh which was not a petty amount in those days,” Salve said.
A former cricketer, Raj Singh Dungarpur belonged to the royal family of Rajasthan and was the third son of the Maharaja of Dungarpur. He had also been the president of BCCI previously.
Lata Mangeshkar agreed and did take part in the musical event and eventually it helped in rewarding each and every cricketer of the World Cup-winning team, with Rs 1 Lakh.
A significant concert
This concert of Lata Mangeshkar was a big hit and the board raised Rs 20 Lakh from it. The song 'Bharat Vishwa Vijeta,' sung by Lata Mangeshkar during this particular concert was highly praised. When Lata was singing this song on the stage, the players of the Indian cricket team were also humming the song.
After this song of Lata Mangeshkar and the help given to the board, BCCI had decided that they will reserve a seat in every stadium in India for Lata Mangeshkar for the rest of her life.
