Lata hopes youth learn about tradition

Mumbai, May 11 (UNI) Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar today expressed hope that her new non-film album 'Sumiran' would help to create awareness about culture and tradition among the youth.

Speaking at the launch of the album, released by Saregama here, Lata said the album has sanskrit prayers and shlokas offered to Lord Vishnu, Shiv, Ganesh, Krishna, Ram, Goddesses Lakshmi, Parvati and Saraswati.

''I do not know how the album would fare in the market. But, I will be happy if the youth of today draw inspiration from it to learn about culture and tradition,''she said.

Lata said she and her brother Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar had conceived the album a decade ago. '' The music was composed by Hridaynath. The songs were recorded and we never thought of bringing about an album on it,''she added.

Mr Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG group, said 'Sumiran' or 'Smaran' (thoughts), is symbolic of what the album contains-- soul elevating chants. ''Though the album was conceived more than a decade ago, Saregama is privileged to release the album when the world is changing fast and values are decaying, Sumiran comes like a breath of fresh air. Even the packaging for the album has been specially designed to bring alive this thought''.

UNI