Lata Mangeshkar wished to record Ram shloka during her final days: ‘Always kept a small mic in her room,’ says Maryuresh Pai

They say they felt divinity in her voice; he says he saw divinity in her. They say it’s been four years since she left the mortal abode, he says, “She is there in every song that touched her lips.” We are talking about India’s most beloved and finest gems ever, Lata Mangeshkar Ji, and recalling her on her death anniversary, music composer Mayuresh Pai shares, “Today, four years have passed since she left her physical form. I feel her presence everywhere, every second.”

“I believe that such people who come to earth once in thousands of years, they come to remind us that immortality goes way beyond the physical form. Just like Beethoven, Mozart and Mahatma Gandhi, Didi won’t be forgotten till the end of civilisation,” he says in an exclusive conversation with us.

Mayuresh Pai recalls the final days of late Lata Mangeshkar

Mayuresh Pai was the last music composer to have worked with the iconic artist, Lata Mangeshkar, before her demise. Remembering her final days, he narrates, “She called me her Krishna Kanhaiya. She was my mother, my God. In her final year, Lata Didi expressed a wish to record a Ram shlok. We recorded one Marathi Hanumanji strotra and a bit of Ram Raksha. How were we to know that this would be her last recording? “

“We always kept a small mic in her room. And she knew all the shlokas by heart, so she didn’t need to consult any songbook,” he continues.

There was divinity in Lata Mangeshkar’s art

Remembering her craft, he further adds, “You won’t believe it if I tell you this, but there was the scent of agarbattis in Lataji’s room, although we didn’t light any. I always believe that Lata Didi’s voice is the voice of divinity, the voice of India. She is the mangalya swar of India.”


“I remember every detail of her final recording, every syllable that she sang in her room that day is embedded in my heart. She departed on the day of Saraswati Maa’s visarjan. She was indeed Saraswati Mata herself. People believe in God without seeing God. But I believe in God because I have seen her,” says Mayuresh Pai.


“People see Saraswati Mata in her voice. When she sings the Bhagavad Gita, they see Lord Krishna in her voice. You are a Bhakt yourself. You know her voice can evoke the highest form of divinity in the listener,” he expresses.


In the end, with a heart full of emotions he notes, “I was working with her until 2021. When we started the Ram Raksha for Bhagwan Ram, we recorded the last shloka of Bhagwan Ram in 2021. I will not call it memories, but I will call it satsang. The time I got to spend with her, I got to learn so much. I always observed her kindness towards everyone. How a person should be, how a person should live, and how a person should live on their own terms. I have learned this from her.”Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”