Woh bhuli dastaan lo phir yaad aa gayee / Nazar ke saamne ghataa si chha gayee...

When was Madan Mohan a Bhuli hui dastaan? Born for greatness, destined for immortality and constantly driven to attain perfection in his creative endeavours, Madan Mohan Kohli was truly one of the most inspired and inspiring music composers of the twentieth century.

His meteoric melody content was unparalleled. Listening today to the shimmering collection of the composer's songsas they spread themselves out in a winged web of radiance, we can only marvel at the compositions, each a musical monument and wonder, "How did he do it?"

It is hard to believe that Madan Mohan had no formal training in music. Every note that fell mellifluently into his melodic orbit was born from sheer instinct!

Born on June 25, 1924, Madan Mohan was the son of the illustrious Rai Bahadur Chunilal, partner of the Bombay Talkies and Filmistan studios in Mumbai (then Bombay). In his youth Madan Mohan joined the army during the World War II. In 1946 he was employed at the All India Radio (AIR) in Lucknow where he came into contact with such vocal geniuses as Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Begum Akhtar. Begum Akhtar once, on hearing a particular Madan Mohan tune, rang him up and made him sing the whole composition over the telephone.

In his sparkling career, Madan Mohan teamed up with several singers, directors and lyricists. One among them was Lata Mangeshkar, The Nightingale and their partnership yielded what's perhaps the most bountiful tresure chest of immortal melodies ever composed and sung.

Once O.P. Nayyar had spontaneously exclaimed, "Its hard to decide whether God created the voice of Lata Mangeshkar for the compositions of Madan Mohan or vice versa." That throwaway statement haunts us when we listen to the scores of Lata-Madan Mohan melodies. Each melody is a Taj Mahal with inbuilt compartments of emotions in perpetual motion.

Lataji first met Madan Mohan at Filmistan studios. It was the year 1947 and the great composer Master Ghulam Haider had summoned the fledgling nightingale to Filmistan to sing a duet with a new singer named Madan Mohan for the film Shaheed. Lataji had never heard or seen this wannabe crooner. All she knew was that he was the son of the studio owner. The song they sang together was recorded. After the recording the handsome young man told Lataji that he was soon going to become a music director. "You must sing in my first film as music director", Madan Mohan made the Nightingale promise.

She was unable to sing in Madan Mohan's first film Aankhen. But Lataji made this sensitive and gentle giant of a composer her brother for life. Together the siblings created more than history. They created scoops of immortality that mankind will hum as long as there is a place for beauty, harmonic creative integrity and existential truth in our galaxy.

Can we ever tire of listening Lataji sing Madan Mohan's Aapki nazaron ne samjha pyaar ke kaabil mujhe? Colleague Naushad was one of the millions of melody enthusiasts who was spellbound after hearing this glorious ghazal. "Give me this Ghazal and take all my compositions in exchange," Naushaad miyaan exclaimed generously after hearing Aapki nazaron ne samjhaa. It is hard to believe that the inspiration for this peerless melody came to Madan Mohan in the lift which took him from the ground floor to his residence in an apartment block. His sons recall how he would be humming tunes constantly.

There is this widely reported incident during the recording of the song 'Naino maein badraa chaaye where the perfectionist smashed the glass partition in a studio when a musician played the wrong note. The composition in Raag Bhimpalaasi spreads itself out like a veneer of talcum. Soft, sensitive, gentle, fragrant and health inducing. Despite his unfamiliarity with ragaas