With Asha Bhosle&rsquo;s 11-year-old grand-daughter Zanaya making her first public appearance this year at a live concert in Holland, the stage is set for the fourth generation of Mangeshkars to make their mark in music. <img alt="Asha Bhosle" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/sep/Asha-Bhosle_1.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 534px;" /> The veteran singer, who turns 81 tomorrow, just can&rsquo;t help rejoice at the significance of the moment. &ldquo;When Zanaya joined me on stage in Holland, it was as if the pain and suffering that I&rsquo;ve gone through recently and in the past, were automatically washed away.&rdquo; More happiness, more triumph for her: she has just opened a new branch in Bahrain of her chain of restaurants. &ldquo;Singing and my restaurant business keep me busy. I never sit down to think about my losses in life,&rdquo; says Asha who lost her daughter Varsha to a tragic suicide last year. &ldquo;It feels like a hard slap on a mother&rsquo;s face. I don&rsquo;t allow myself to think about what I haven&rsquo;t got in life. I only think of the bounty that life has given me.&rdquo; One of the singer&rsquo;s happiest moments occurred recently when her legendary Didi Lata Mangeshkar described her as self-made woman. She says, &ldquo;Didi put her hand on my head and said that whatever I&rsquo;ve achieved in life I&rsquo;ve done on my own. At the age of 15, I left home and I&rsquo;ve never sought any financial help from my family. When Didi acknowledged this I felt very happy, very fulfilled. God has been kind.&rdquo; About the infamous rivalry between the two legendary singing sister, Asha gives her inimitable take. &ldquo;The so-called rivalry has been fuelled over the years by trouble-makers and opportunists. There are people who touch my feet when she is not around. But when she is there they pretend they don&rsquo;t know me.&rdquo; Reminiscing about their life together she says, &ldquo;We were in Kolhapur when I started at the age of 12 or 13 in 1947. It&rsquo;s true that when there&rsquo;s already a star in the family, others have to suffer in spite of being talented. One has to face constant comparison. During my childhood we used to watch a lot of English films. Classical toh ghar mein chalta hi tha. Didi&rsquo;s voice had cast such a spell on people that another voice in the same style didn&rsquo;t stand a chance on earth.&rdquo; Recalling those days of struggle Asha says, &ldquo;When there was already a Taj Mahal I came to build another one. Bahut mushqil thi. Who would want to go to another singer when there was already a Lata Mangeshkar? On top of that, I was her younger sister. It isn&rsquo;t Didi&rsquo;s fault. Lekin haan, I did feel at one time that the industry was giving me a step-motherly treatment. I didn&rsquo;t get good songs. I didn&rsquo;t receive my due. Now I feel it doesn&rsquo;t matter. Asha Bhosle has her own place.&rdquo; The singer made a conscious effort not to copy her sister. &ldquo;Copying her would have meant the end of my career even before it started. I had to cultivate a Western style of singing. Didi became instantaneously successful. Plus there were other singers like Geeta Dutt. As a woman who has been working since the age of 13, I just sit back and watch. I have no love, no hate for any of them. It&rsquo;s like sitting at Chowpatty one evening and enjoying the tamasha.&rdquo; In addition, she had to fight off the image of singing naughty number. &ldquo;People during those days considered cabaret and dance numbers to be very lowly. And here I am. In real life I am a very domesticated, just like any middleclass woman. I love to look after the kids and cook in the kitchen. At home I am myself.&rdquo; Speaking on new generations of singers Asha ponders, &ldquo;The world has moved on. Earlier the female singer sang at a high pitch and the male singer at a low pitch. Now that has been reversed. There&rsquo;s no time for slow soft sentimental songs. No point in clinging to the past and pining for nostalgia.&rdquo; She speaks of R D Burman with much affection, though she is not too fond of the RD remixes. &ldquo;When I did Rahul &amp; I, I wanted to be faithful to the original. But my son Anand told me to just leave it to him. The album was a resounding success. No one can stop others from doing re-mixes. People are forever cashing in musical names. But please, if you are doing re-mixes, do be thoughtful towards the original.&rdquo;

All eyes on Sidharth Malhotra!

On the eve of her 81st birthday, Asha Bhosle reminisces old times with her sister Lata Mangeshkar and her buoyant journey ahead

There was already a star in the family: Asha Bhosle

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There was already a star in the family: Asha Bhosle

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