Lataji had a dream that she shared with me. “There are so many talented singers in our country. They either get on the wrong route or languish for the want of opportunities . I want to build a music school. Ek mandir jahan par bachche sangeet ka gyan prapt kar sakte hain. It is sad that a majority of music enthusiasts in our country equate film music with music.There is so much more to our musical heritage than what we hear in our cinema.”
Lataji’s dream of an institution to learn Hindustani music is coming true.The Maharashtra government has started construction work on the Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar International College of Music on 7,000 square meters of land a Kalina- Santacruz.
Giving out details of the project composer Mayuresh Pai, a diehard Lata bhakt says, “Yeh Lata Didi ka ek sapna ttha. That there should be an academic centre of international repute where students from all over the world can study music. This college is named after Lata Didi and her father who was a scholar of Hindustani music. It is being built on an area of seven thousand square meters in Santacruz East and there will be a 400-seat auditorium, 18 classrooms, museum and exhibition hall, hostel for 200 students, 300-seat open auditorium and accommodation for teachers. It will be a musical universe that will make our Mata Saraswati very happy up there.”
