Dear Asha Tai,
In every generation, the birth a gem of an artist takes place, who has the power to captivate the audience listening to her through her soulful voice. But Tai you are the ‘Kohinoor’ of Bollywood Industry, who's enthralling melodies is just beyond generations and times.
I still remember my late grannie crooning ‘Do lafzon ki hai Dil ki kahani’ every time she took me to her garden with butterflies on flowers and heart settling subtly. I can certainly say she and I have garnered nonchalant memories listening to each of your masterpieces and lived them to our fullest.
Asha Tai, you are a whole package of proficiency and artistry! Right from the lullaby of ‘Chanda mama door ke’ to ‘Dil toh Dil hai’ I have grown up listening to almost every ecstasy of yours. Tai, you have breathed life into melodies and symphonized them into living sensations that have created milestones in the history of music in India.
Every single mood of a human has at least one of your songs to fit into that situation, maybe the cheerful frolicking ‘Eena Meena Deeka’ and ‘Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Mein’ that elevates one's frame of mind, or maybe the heartbreaking ‘Woh Din Kahan Gaye Mere' which accompanies a shattered heart, or maybe the enigmatic ‘Aapke nazron ne samjha’ that defeats the time of life. You are the glorious voice to those zealous listeners who have a test of music and it's aura.
The little girl with her touch of innocence in loving mangoes and who climbed trees for plucking them raw might never have thought that she would control the song taste of India for her holy six decades of life! You and your Lata di are the divas of Music. Tai, being an ardent foodie I started loving you more the day I read you are also a ‘MasterChef’. Your expedition through generations has been an extraordinary one for years to come!
So Tai, with all respect my heart could hold, I wish Padma Vibhushan Shrimati Asha Bhole, the Happiest Birthday of her life till now! May you live for years ahead and keep making people fervently crazy with the tantalizing beats of your evergreens!
Churaliya hai aapne jiske dil ko,
Jigyansu Das