Mumbai: Her smile is a Mona Lisa smile, it’s priceless, Lata Mangeshkar’s doctor Dr Pratit Samdani said Monday. While talking Dr Samdani found it extremely difficult to talk about the legendary singer and his much loved patient in the past tense. Lata Mangeshkar passed away Sunday at the Breach Candy hospital here. A day after the doctor treating her recalled her charismatic smile, her connect with the hospital staff and his family.
“She (Lata) had two private sisters and she loved the hospital sisters too. My doctors and the entire team are in love with her,” Samdani told about Lata, who will forever be counted as one of India’s greats.
As millions mourned the death of the artist whose songs had mirrored their every emotion, Samdani said he relates her ‘golden voice to her charismatic smile’. “Her smile is a Mona Lisa smile, it is a priceless smile,” Dr Samdani said.
The smile had an instant effect on the staff too. “If she (Lata) would smile, we would be really happy. We would be more active. We would wait for her to smile. She would smile when she would find an incident which was funny,” informed Samdani.
Samdani has treated several celebrities over the years at the hospital. He has a special spot for Lata.
““She is iconic, very tolerant to all therapies. She is very patient, inquisitive, and never refused any therapy. She has been an excellent patient. As a human being, she has shown so much affection, respect to all of us,” Dr Samdani said lapsing into present tense ever so often as he remembered his association with his 92-year-old patient.
For millions of fans, Sunday, February 6, was the day the music died. And for Dr Samdani too.
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Samdani announced Lata’s death to the world. He said she passed away at 8.12am due to multi organ failure ‘after over 28 days of Covid-19 diagnosis’. He described the day as extremely difficult.
“Lata ji had shown some signs of improvement but then she went into multi-organ failure. Whenever any patient’s multiple organs start deteriorating, it is always a tough journey. We had to support every organ that required the support. It was extremely difficult to see her deteriorate,” the hospital’s internal medicine physician and intensivist stated.
“It is deeply saddening and a personal loss for all of us… It was more difficult to break it (news) to the family but the family was aware that things are not looking good,” Dr Samdani added.
A video of a fragile Mangeshkar walking with the support of two women is being distributed widely on social media. However, Samdani asserted said it is not from the hospital.
He recalled his first meeting with Lata in November 2019. She was wheeled into the hospital late at night and was admitted to the ICU after she complained of difficulty in breathing.
“It was emotionally difficult for him to treat her,” Samdani said. “Just to see Didi… (I) got goosebumps when I got to know that I was going to be treating her and after examining her to know that she is so critical, it was not only emotionally difficult but a big challenge,” Dr Samdani said.
“Even though she (Lata) was sick, she was keenly observing me, how I was talking or communicating to her. She wanted to make sure she had confidence in me when I started treating her. The moment it was done, she said, ‘Doctor whatever you want, I don’t have any problem’,” he added.
In the more than two years since, their relationship changed and they grew closer, the doctor informed. Whenever they met on video calls, she would also talk to his eight-year-old daughter Ishanvi and his nephrologist wife Ruchi. “We had a personal relationship. She loves my daughter,” he said.
Lata ji would send letters to Ishanvi. Her favourite song was ‘O Paalan Haare’ from Lagaan and Didi (Lata) would ask her to sing it. “Didi had told her that you sing well and that she would put her on her YouTube channel,” Samdani informed.
The video calls would happen once a week due to the pandemic and he would meet her whenever required. “We wanted to make sure she doesn’t get exposed to Covid-19,” the doctor informed.
But destiny had other plans.
Lata was again admitted January 8 to the hospital after she tested positive for coronavirus with mild symptoms. Whenever the ‘Queen of Melody’ was brought to the hospital, the hospital staff would play her songs, particularly her bhajans.
“We used to put her music on, which would essentially be bhajans, like that of Ganpati shlokas, Maha Mruntunjay, among others. She was very receptive. She knew it was her voice,” the doctor signed off.
