THIS patriotic song by Lata Mangeshkar rivaled ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ but remains in the shadows to date |

Today when we talk about patriotic songs, several gems come to our mind. However, in the realm of Indian music, there’s a collection of patriotic songs that despite being a true masterpiece failed to get their due attention and love. On Republic Day 2025, we are going to talk about one such song.
In 1971 the great composer Jaidev Varma went to Lata Mangeshkar ji and told her he had composed a patriotic song on a par with ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon.’
“I always had the greatest respect for Jaidevji’s talent. Many self-interested elements tried to create a rift between them. And we did undergo a phase of tension. But not too long,” Lataji once confided in this writer.
Jaidev’s olive branch to Lataji was this haunting patriotic song ‘Jo Samar Mein Ho Gaye Amar,’ written by the great poet turned lyricist Narendra Sharma whom Lataji was very close to.
When Lataji heard the nubile nationalistic words of Narendra Sharma she wept. The song goes, “Jo samar me ho gaye amar, main unaki yaad mein/gaa rahi hun aaj shradha-geet dhanyavaad mein /laut kar na aayenege vijay dilaane vaale veer/mere geet anjali mein unake liye nayan-neer…”
Indeed this song rivals the historic ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ in terms of lyrics and composition. However, strangely ‘Jo Samar Mein Ho Gaye Amar’ never got its due in the hefty hierarchy of Lataji’s sing-dom, probably because of the vicious politics of the music world.
In 1993 after Jaidev’s demise, Asha Bhosle paid a moving and befitting homage to the genius of Jaidev. In the album ‘Suranjali’ she sang her sister Lataji’s song ‘Jo Samar Mein Ho Gaye Amar.’