Alka Yagnik, the veteran playback singer, who has sung more than 22,000 songs in 25 languages, sparked a major concern among her fan and followers after a video showing her being assisted in a wheelchair surfaced online, while she visited the Rashtrapati Bhavan to receive the Padma Bhushan. She was also seen to have been accompanied with a support as she walked up to Preseident Droupadi Murmu.
And the concerns were valid enough.
Alka Yagnik, stunned the Indian music world in 2024 with a diagnosis of a rare form of hearing loss, and a few months back she has confessed to being “still suffering” from a rare form of sensorineural nerve hearing loss, or SNHL, following a viral attack after a flight.
The singer even spoke candidly about her ongoing health struggles at the Padma Awards event. The clip emerged shortly.
Despite her health challenges, she was honoured with the Padma Bhushan by President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony in New Delhi on June 23.
Today, she took to Instagram to share an emotional note about her condition, sharing a good news bringing relief to Indian aundiences.
She wrote:
"Thank you for your love, cncern and good wishes.
I have seen the concern surrounding a video from the ceremony and would like to assure everyone that I am well and progressing positively in my recovery. After a long and memorable day at the Padma facilitation, I was simply fatigued and requested a wheelchair while leaving (sic)."
The influence of a hearing loss on a musician of such a stature and on the Indian music industry is huge. Alka, who is one of the most-streamed artiste on YouTube, last sang a song called Naram Kaalja for the Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra-film, Amar Singh Chamkila, which is streaming on Netflix. Since then, the Padma Bhushan recipient has been fully focused on recovering from this illness, and her clarification today brought in a sigh of relief.
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