When Lata talked about never marrying

Despite spending close to 80 years in the public life, Lata Mangeshkar, largely stayed away from being featured in the gossip columns. The singer stayed unmarried all her life and while there were rumours featuring certain names, the singer always maintained a dignified silence on any reports of link-ups and romances.

In a 2013 interview with an Indian daily, the singer opened up about the significance of love, marriage, and children in her life, one of the rare occasions she did so.

During the interview, when asked about what role love played in her life and who was the lucky man in her life, Lata simply replied, "There are some things only for the heart to know. Let me keep it that way."

Further in the interview, Lata also spoke about people's notions that a woman is 'incomplete' unless she is married and has children. She said, "People talk all sorts of things, so learn to ignore them. Else, it'll be difficult to lead a happy life. Energies that are negative and depressing should be kept at bay. I have always done that."

The legendary singer then referred to an interview of Kiran Rao in which she had talked about the same thing, and said, "Bohut khoobsurat bola hai unhone (she has spoken beautifully). It's important to first find happiness and a sense of fulfilment within yourself, else the dream of being fulfilled only through marriage or children loses its significance."

Lata Mangeshkar died at the age of 92 on Sunday morning. The veteran artiste was diagnosed with Covid-19 and pneumonia last month. The news of her death was confirmed by N Santhanam, chief executive officer of Breach Candy Hospital, where she was under treatment.

In an eight-decade long career, the singer won almost every laurel imaginable, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.