Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar is still shaken by her experience with the press in her hometown Indore.

"Itne dhakke diye hain main kabhi nahin bhulungi (I was pushed around so much... I cannot forget the incidnet)," the nightingale shudders at the very thought of the nightmarish experience she underwent at the hands of the media when she went to the city last week.

"I still can't believe it! I had gone on a personal visit. Indore is my place of birth. I had not been there for 22 years, so I was quite looking forward to the visit. How was I to know what lay in store?"

The minute Lata landed in Indore with her sister Usha Mangeshkar and nephew Adinath, a clamour of aggressive press persons rushed forward to greet her.

"I had no idea that the press would be there. We hadn't informed them about the visit. And I certainly wasn't prepared for the barrage of questions that hit me.

"They all wanted to know the same things over and over again... Why was I visiting after so many years? Did I feel Indore was my home? Then I was suddenly asked when I'd be on 'Kaun Banega Crorepati'! Arrey, it's just an idea and I've not even been asked as yet. I'd love to sit with (Amitabh) Bachchan saab but I may not be able to answer a single question."

She pauses to laugh and then goes grim again as she remembers the harrowing time she had.

"Anyway I patiently went over the same queries repeatedly. But then, the crowd of press persons began to swell. Suddenly I felt myself being pushed from behind. I am not saying anyone did it deliberately. But when a crowd gets unmanageable, such things are bound to happen. It was a stifling crowd and I was perspiring profusely. I felt dizzy. And I made my displeasure clear vocally."

In all her years as the reigning diva in the domain of the ditty, this is the first time that Lata has been subjected to such treatment.

One is reminded of how our other super-icon Amitabh Bachchan was treated at an awards function in Dubai two years ago where, after being invited, he was seated in the public enclave.

Says Lata: "I'm sure Bachchan saab is subjected to all kinds of strange and intolerable experiences by an over-excited public. He's at public functions all the time facing all sorts of crowds. But I'm not used to it. I'm a very private person. I hardly go out, meet strangers, or talk to the press.

"The experience in Indore left me cold. Ironically they're building a live-show auditorium in my mother's memory in Indore. Much as I'm pleased about it I don't think I'll be able to do a concert there to raise further funds for the auditorium."

Lata's experience puts a huge question mark on the relations between celebrities and public, particularly the behaviour of the press.