Hey guys, welcome back to my blog, SlogVlog! In today’s post, we will be concluding this beautiful love story. Let’s start.
Lata Mangeshkar was suddenly invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and the director himself asked her!
Now, you all must wonder how she was suddenly invited to the prestigious Albert Hall to perform. This happened because of RAJ SINGH DUNGARPUR!
Raj had taken a flight to London a few months back, and he used all his connections to meet with the trustees of the Albert Hall in London and finally got Lata the chance to perform at the prestigious Albert Hall in London. Lata Mangeshkar performed in Albert Hall in the year 1974. That night she put up a fantastic show. She didn’t know that Raj Singh was sitting in the back and watching her perform. She didn’t know how Raj went to England and got her this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or that he was sitting in the last row watching her perform. He wanted her music to succeed, and he wanted it to thrive. They didn’t get married, but their love for each other never lessened. It only grew over the years.
Lata Mangeshkar also loved cricket; she adapted to it as Raj Bhai adapted to music. She would attend every match at the Wankhede Stadium. Such was her craze for cricket. Her music schedules were planned according to the schedule of the Indian Cricket Team.
Raj Singh Dungarpur bought a house right above the Lord’s stadium so that Lata Mangeshkar could watch matches peacefully from her balcony and not get stuck in stadiums. This was the same house Lata Mangeshkar spent her sleepless night before the finals of the 1983 World Cup. This was one day before Kapil Dev led Team India to stun the world by beating the West Indies.
Raj Singh has retired from the game, but he was a well-known, respected person in the BCCI. Raj Singh returned to India after the team won the world cup. He was in a tough situation, though. BCCI had somehow managed to give 25,000 Rs per player as prize money, but just giving 25,000 Rs to a world cup winning player? That would be an insult. Not only to the Indian Cricket Team but to the BCCI also. 25,000 is such a paltry sum. Other countries would mock them. So, Raj came up with an idea. He called Lata Mangeshkar and asked her whether she could conduct a concert in Delhi, and they would use the money they would get from the Concert to pay the Indian team. Lata Mangeshkar, of course, said yes.
On August 17th, 1983, Lata Mangeshkar created a 2-hour musical masterpiece. She even sang a new song for this by her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar. BCCI collected a massive 20 Lakhs from this Concert, which meant 1 Lakh Rs to each player. They tried to give a share of this money to Lata Mangeshkar, but she smiled and walked away. After that, BCCI announced that they would always be two tickets reserved for Lata Mangeshkar, and they were free. Why two tickets? Because by then, everyone knew who she would watch cricket with.
Over the next 30 years, incidents like this occurred; if we list everyone, this post would be finished in no less than 20 parts.
Raj Singh Dungarpur had now become chairman of the selection committee. He had chosen this 16-year-old boy to play against Pakistan in Pakistan! Can anyone guess who? If you thought Sachin Tendulkar, you are correct! This young man was a huge fan of Lata Mangeshkar. He even acknowledged her as his mother.
Whenever they felt lonely, they would fly off to London and live in their tiny flat, drinking tea and watching cricket.
On her 75th Birthday, he was there holding the mic with a shaky hand, with eyes that had trouble seeing and memory that kept fading away due to a disease that took his life five years later. He could still remember every minute detail of the day he met the love of his life Lata Mangeshkar.
Even though they didn’t get married, their life was no less than a fairytale. Their love grew day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second. Their love is the kind of love everyone would want to have. They never left each other, always together. If this isn’t true love, I don’t know what is.
Thank You, and I hope you enjoyed reading this beautiful love story.
We are wishing you all Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
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