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New Delhi . “Don't leave now that your heart is not full yet…” This song of Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi is associated with their memories even after 65 years. Today is Asha Bhosle's 93rd birth anniversary. This is the first birthday when he is not present among us. He died on 12 April 2026, about five months before his birthday. In his long cinematic journey, he gave his voice to thousands of songs, which are liked even today. However, his identity was not limited to singing only. She was also very fond of cooking and was quite adept in this art.

Asha Bhosle started singing at the age of just 10. His father Dinanath Mangeshkar was a theater actor and classical singer. For this reason, his childhood was spent in an environment of music. When Asha was only 9 years old, her father died suddenly. After this the family came into financial crisis. To earn a living, the family had to come to Mumbai via Pune and Kolhapur. To take care of the responsibilities of the family at an early age, elder sisters Lata Mangeshkar and Asha entered the world of singing.

In childhood, Asha was very close to her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar and often used to follow her. Lata also used to roam around with her younger sister in her lap. Once Lata took him to school, the teacher opposed it. Later, Asha sang the song 'Chala Chala Nav Bala' for the Marathi film 'Maja Bal'. He was only 10 years old when this song was recorded in the year 1943. Later he sang thousands of songs in many languages ​​including Hindi and lent his voice to folk songs, ghazals, classical music, qawwali and Bollywood songs.

Asha had to struggle a lot in the initial phase of her career. At that time Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum and Lata Mangeshkar were in great demand. When these singers left a song, Asha got it. In the 1950s he sang many songs for the films Vamps, Bad Girls and Second Grade. During this period, a rumor also spread that she had started considering Lata Didi as her rival.

In an interview, Asha had told an incident to the recording. Composer Shankar Jaikishan had given the song 'Kar Gaya Re Kar Gaya Re Mujhpe Jadoo' from the film 'Basant Bahar' to both the sisters. It was based on Raga Bhairavi and both of them had rehearsed it several times. On the day of recording, Asha was ready to go to the studio, while Lata was still practicing. Asha also had to record another song on the same day. After waiting for about an hour, she went to the rehearsal room and said to Lata, “Come now, I can't wait any longer.” Lata replied with a smile and went with him for recording.

There were many ups and downs in Asha's personal life too. At the age of 16, she fell in love with Lata Mangeshkar's 31-year-old personal secretary, Ganpat Rao Bhosale, and married him against the wishes of her family. After this he had to leave the house. After the initial days, he started being beaten and even prevented from meeting his family members. In 1960, she returned to her mother's home with two children. She was also pregnant at that time. On his return, Lata gave him a room near her and the family was reunited.

After this Asha started singing again and met Rahul Dev Burman i.e. RD Burman. Both of them did many songs together and got married in the year 1980. RD Burman was six years younger than her and both of their previous marriages had ended. Pancham Da died of cardiac arrest on 4 January 1994 at the age of 54.

Apart from singing, Asha's other option was cooking. She was fond of cooking. Paya curry, fish curry, fried meat and dal were served in the feasts at his house. His Kadhai Gosht and Biryani were very much liked. She had said that if she had not been a singer, she would have earned money by becoming a good cook. He also opened his own restaurant chain abroad. Restaurants named after him remained popular in Dubai and Kuwait. Rishi Kapoor also liked his handmade Shami Kebab, fried meat and black lentils.

Asha Bhosle's elder son Hemant is no more in this world. His daughter Varsha committed suicide on 8 October 2012, while his youngest son is Anand Bhosle. Asha died on 12 April 2026 at the age of 92. His last song with Gorillaz was 'The Shadowy Light', which was released on 27 February 2026. The song was recorded for Gorillaz's album.