Story behind 'Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon'; when Lata Mangeshkar moved Jawaharlal Nehru to tears

Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo, a patriotic song sung by Lata Mangeshkar was written following the Indo-China war and has since become a symbol of India’s nationalism. On 27 January 1963, when the legendary singer performed the song at the National Stadium in the presence of President Dr. S. Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister’s eyes became tearful. On listening to the song, Jawaharlal Nehru had stated that a true Indian would be absolutely overwhelmed by this song.

The song was first sung at a fundraiser event organized by the film industry for Indian war widows at Delhi’s National Stadium. The song was written by C Ramachandra and sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Nehru’s eyes filled with tears as he sang the song.

The stories behind the making of ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’-

As first, when Lata Mangeshkar denied to sing ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’, Asha Bhosle’s name was taken into consideration. However, the poet Pradeep was able to convince the singer to sing it.

Furthermore, the poet Pradeep had divulged that the lyrics of ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ came to his mind when he was taking a walk on Mumbai’s Mahim Beach. As he did not have a pen or paper at the time, he asked a passerby and wrote it on the aluminum foil of the cigarette packet.

It was determined the Lata Mangeshkar would sing the song and C Ramachandra would compose it. However, there was a disagreement between the singer and the composer. In such a circumstance,the legendery singer chose not to sing the song. Following this Asha Bhosle was brought in. But, Pradeep stood firm that only Lata Mangeshkar would sing this song. According to pradeep the emotion and justice that Lata’s voice can give to this song is unmatched. After this Pradeep went to Lata ji and convinced her to sing.

It is said that Lata Mangeshkar started crying after hearing the lyrics of the song. She immediately agreed to sing it. But, on the condition that Pradeep himself will be there during the rehearsals. However, after listening to the song, Lata suggested that the song should be sung as a duet. On the contrary, Pradeep wanted Lataji to sing it alone. Lata and Asha practiced the song as Duet, but Asha later distanced herself from the song. Lata tried hard to convince them but failed.

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