Tributes pour in as singer Manna Dey passes away

India’s legendary singer died due to cardiac failure and renal problem.

BANGALORE: India’s legendary playback singer Manna Dey died early Thursday at a private hospital in Bangalore after prolonged illness. Hundreds of people, including youngsters, thronged Ravindra Kalakshetra, a cultural centre in the city, to pay tribute to Mannada.

“Mannada’s demise came around 4am after his condition suddenly deteriorated in the wee hours of Thursday due to cardiac failure and renal problem,” hospital spokesman KS Vasuki told IANS.

Prabodh Chandra Dey, known by his stage name,Manna Dey, was 94. He recorded more than 4000 songs during 1942-2013, including famous numbers Poocho Na Kaise Maine Rain Bitayi, Dil Ka Haal Sune Dilwala and Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli. The Indian government honoured him with Padma Shri (1971), Padma Bhushan (2005) and Dadasaheb Phalke (2007) awards. The legendary singer sang in different languages apart from Hindi, including Bengali, Kannada, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Assamese.

The nonagenarian multi-lingual singer is survived by two daughters — Rama and Sumita — and grandchildren. His body was taken to Ravindra Kalakshetra from the hospital. Braving a downpour, hundreds of people, including youth, came to the theatre in the city centre to pay tribute to Mannada.

“Dey’s eldest daughter [Rama] rushed to the hospital and was at his bedside when the end came after we alerted her about her father’s deteriorating condition,” Vasuki said. According to Dey’s family sources, Dey’s younger daughter Sumita lives in the US.

Dey’s wife Sulochana Kumaran died in the same city in January last year. She was suffering from cancer. Dey was admitted to the specialty hospital in early June after he complained of breathlessness due to lung infection and was undergoing treatment for respiratory disease.

The family performed Dey’s last rites at a crematorium in the northwest of the city in the evening.

‘Nobody can take Manna Dey’s place’

Singers like Usha Uthup and Kumar Sanu, condoling Manna Dey’s death, said nobody can take his place and that the legend will live with them forever through music. “I was completely shocked and saddened. We all know him for such a long time, but he is finally released from his pain. There is nobody who can take his place,” Uthup told IANS.

Singer and music director Anu Malik said, “I was completely shattered when I heard this because I was amongst the lucky ones who had a chance to meet him. He [Dey] sang a song for me. I have never met such a humble and simple person like him.”

Singer Kumar Sanu termed Dey’s death as “a very sad moment for the industry”. “Singers like us followed him. His songs have been so inspiring and we have learned a lot from them,” said Sanu.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2013.

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