She has known my brother Rajan since the days he was the Managing Director of Air India in the eighties, but even though I had visited Bombay some how we had never met.

I told her I refuse to touch her feet-she is far too sexy for me to give her that matronly salutation. Instead I gave her a hug.
She then told me how she had met my brother the first time. “I was sitting in the first class cabin on an Air India flight and complaining about the food. (Many people don’t know this but Asha ji is a legendary cook!) I said, this is awful; this Airline is doomed to remaining a substandard one where food is concerned.” While she was waxing eloquent about the disastrous Air India cuisine, a young handsome jean clad man quietly sat there listening. When she ended, he said “Asha ji I ‘m sorry you didn’t like the food. I will make sure this doesn’t happen again.” She looked at him and said “And you are?” He replied softly, “ Rajan Jetley. I’m the Managing Director of Air India.”

“I said to myself arre baba re, now I’m never going to get a booking on this airline,” Asha ji said laughing. My sister in law told me about this amazing prawn curry Asha ji cooked and kindly brought over to their place. Rajan being an awesome singer and a foodie himself, made sure Air India food was one of his crowning achievements when flying the friendly skies as well!
Asha Bhosle is also very outspoken and forthright. When I asked her how she could be so honest she said, “ because truth has a way of coming out.” Asha ji told me how while Lata ji thinks with her head and is very image conscious, and even when hurt feels she needs to uphold that image of being reserved and gracious, Asha ji thinks with her heart. “I am blunt and say it like it is. In fact, once we were having dinner and someone said something that I could not take, but because Lata didi was on the table, I was biting my tongue. Finally she said, “Asha go ahead, blurt it out, otherwise you won’t be able to digest your food!” Well I did and what a relief it was!”

Another thing that struck me was the grit and determination with which she has overcome every curve ball thrown at her in her life and tried to see the positive in it. A broken difficult marriage, that was disapproved of, but gave her three wonderful children and her preference to revel in that than moan about her hurts, her struggle to carve a niche for herself and not remain in the shadows of her legendary sister, her courage and persistence even when people tried sabotaging her career, and some of them were close to her heart. She always had faith that you can never be denied what you deserve.

Her youngest child son Anand had told me then, “Mom has an amazing will power. The more you tell her it cannot be done, the more she will go out and prove that it can. Some time back, she was on this tour, sick, her voice in a mess, she could barely croak and we were in two minds whether to cancel the show or just let Varsha(her daughter) go and fill in for her and let the other singers also sing. When mom was told, she would not hear of such a thing. She went and started singing and unlike other singers, her voice keeps on getting better as time passes. Suddenly in the middle of the show, her voice that had been tired and weak, suddenly soared and then there was no looking back. She brought the house down. At another time, she broke a finger in her foot and went about business. By the time, she saw the physician the fractured had healed by itself, and the physician was shaking his head wondering how she had managed to even walk, in that kind of excruciating pain for so long.”

Anand studied business in college and film direction, before mom decided he was to help her manage her career. His creativity came in handy as he directed her in the super successful television show Yeh Hai Asha. His wife has designed some of Asha ji’s dazzling outfits. It is rare to see a child give up his dreams to see his mother blossom and fulfill her potential. Usually it’s the other way around.
Asha ji has experimented with remixes, sung with Boy George, and many other boy bands, and also in English, Russian and Malaysian. Evidently she just picked up some English cassettes went for a walk and returned to give a flawless rendition of her hit Ave Maria. When I asked her about that experience she laughed and said ‘Well after you have sung in Tamil- English, Russian and Malaysian are a cakewalk! When I met some of these very successful artists wearing rags, I thought they were very poor and needed financial help! It was when Anand told me they are rich as anything and this is just the way they dress that enlightenment dawned! It was fun and very easy. I believe in moving with the times and enjoying myself. I think I decided to get into the remix scene because as Lata didi said every body is botching things up, at least you will make less of a mess of it. Luckily, Rahul and I was greatly appreciated.”

Anand said that Asha ji has a very finely tuned ear for music and languages. “She has such a wide range that once when she was being nominated for the Grammies someone asked which category does she qualify for and I said she can sing anything from Pavarotti, all that is in between, to Michael Jackson. She has covered every aspect of music so it is not possible to slot her. In fact, in the song “O meri Jaan maine kaha” she has hit a note that is out side the keyboard!”

Her versatility knows no bounds. Two of her albums released in July and August are as apart as chalk and cheese. The first Asha which I have totally fallen in love with, is a collection of ghazals immortalized by legendary singers like Mehdi Hassan, Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali, and yet her rendition has wiped every one else from my mind. The other is called You've Stolen My Heart, and is with the Kronos Quartet. On stage she is full of new innovations, from reinventing her songs, to doing the famous Hritik Roshan moves at one concert, and coming up with a magic trick at the recent fund raiser for the Robin Raina Foundation held in Atlanta in June.
She stays in the fray of things because she has a childlike curiosity about everything and a great ability to pick on things, says Anand. “The other day I was discussing NRI investment and she immediately picked up on the fact that NRIs have contributed very significantly to India’s economy and wanted to incorporate that observation in her show.” Off stage she is animated, alive and even when I called her the other day for a feature I’m working on about her, she was full of energy, her voice changing with each interesting anecdote she related and her cute laughter resonating across the phone lines when she delivered the punch line.
Asha Bhosle will turn 73 on the 8th of September. Happy Birthday Asha ji! May this be the beginning of many more exciting musical adventures for you.