The Sikh Mohalla street in Indore, where Lata Mangeshkar was born, was on Sunday flooded with fans who demanded that the locality be named after the music legend.
Mangeshkar, who died in a Mumbai hospital on Sunday, was born in the locality which is adjacent to a gurdwara on September 28, 1929. A cloth shop now operates from the place where she was born.
After the word of her demise spread, her fans thronged the locality. The street, adjoining the local district court, is known as “Court Wali Gully” and “Chat Wali Gully” because of the snacks shops there.
“We have been asking the local administration for the last several years that this street be named after Lata Mangeshkar,” Sanjay Patel, a local music and culture expert, told PTI.
As per government records, the street is named after former High Court justice Shankar Madhav Samvatsar, he said.
“After Mangeshkar's death, there will be a competition across the country to name places and institutions after her. But we will always carry this pain that the street of her birthplace could not be named after her when she was alive,” Patel said.
Indore's Lok Sabha MP Shankar Lalwani said, “We put her picture at the corner of the street to mark her birthday last year.”
Locals said there was a picture put up by the State Directorate of Culture and Indore Municipal Corporation near Mangeshkar's birth place, with the inscription: "We are proud that our city Indore is the birthplace of Lata Mangeshkar, the divine voice of the universe.”
Lata's father Dinanath Mangeshkar ran a drama troupe and this troupe reached Indore during their travel to different cities. Shortly after Lata was born, the family left Indore.
The house where she was born has been demolished to make way for a cloth shop. The shop owner has put up her picture inside the shop.
