Lata Mangeshkar’s Quietest Birthday

 “No guests, only phonecalls,” says Lataji about her  91^st birthday.  “My first and hopefully last birthday during the  Covid19 Virus.”

India’s resident  Nightingale turned 91  quietly  on September 28  without fanfare.

“Waise  bhi mujhe  zyada shor-sharaaba  pasand nahin hai. Aur  iss baar toh bilkul nahin(even otherwise I’m not too  fond  of  people making a  fuss about my birthday). There are so many  people suffering and dying all over the world.Any kind of celebration  seems not just inappropriate  but highly insensitive,” says Lataji  , as  her phones  go berserk with birthday greetings from well-wishers.

She  recalls a time when she had  to move  out  of  her  home every year on her birthday to  avoid  the  crowds. “They all wanted to see me  on  my birthday . It used to  get impossible for me to cope with the  visitors and guests. So yes, I used  to shift  to  a hotel on my birthday.”

Lataji  has nothing but gratitude  for  all the  good wishes she received  on her birthday this year. “It is impossible for me to  acknowledge all the good wishes . But I  do want to say that the love that  I  get at my age  from my well-wishers  all over the world is  the  biggest  gift anyone  can receive. I hope next year at this time we’ll be back to normal, so I can see some  of my  well-wishers and friends.”