Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo

"O' people of my country") is a patriotic song written in Hindi by Kavi Pradeep, composed by C. Ramchandra, and sung by singer Lata Mangeshkar.

The song was first performed live two months after the war by Mangeshkar on Republic Day (26 January) 1963 at the National Stadium in New Delhi in the presence of President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

[1] "Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo" was written by Kavi Pradeep to commemorate the Indian soldiers who died during the Sino-Indian War.

He borrowed a pen from another walker and wrote the opening stanza of the song on a piece of foil that he ripped out from his cigarette pack.

A few weeks later, Pradeep was approached by producer Mehboob Khan to write a song for a fundraiser scheduled to be held at the National Stadium in New Delhi.

According to Pradeep's daughter, Mitul, due to some misunderstanding between Ramchandra and Lata, Asha Bhosle was chosen as the singer by the music director.

[2] In January 2013, Lata Mangeshkar said in an interview that she had initially refused the opportunity to sing this song, as she didn't have enough rehearsal time.

President S. Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru attended the performance because Republic Day (26 January) 1963, which was just two months after the end of the war.

[3][8][9] He called Lata Mangeshkar from back stage and personally said to her, "Beta, aaj tumne mujhe rula diya" (My child, you made me weep today).

In 2005, the Bombay High Court asked the music company HMV to indicate a lump sum payable to the Army Welfare Fund for the disabled and war widows from the song's royalty proceeds.

[8][13] Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant, who served in the Sino-Indian War,[14] stated that the song inspired soldiers to withstand the difficult situations they were in.