We all know about the legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar's illustrious singing career, her professionalism, her devotion to singing. But not many know about her personal life and why she chose to remain unmarried for the rest of her life.
Before we divulge into this aspect of her life, it is important to mention that Lata Mangeshkar was a die-hard cricket fan. And this was the main reason for her to come close to the fast-medium bowler from Rajasthan, Raj Singh Dungarpur who later became the Manager of the Indian cricket team.
Raj Singh Dungarpur was the youngest son of Maharawal Lakshman Singhji, the ruler of Dungarpur. Lata Mangeshkar loved cricket and Raj Singh Dungarpur loved music and this brought the duo close to one another. Lata Mangeshkar, who was born in 1929 in Indore was the eldest daughter of Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, a Marathi musician and a theater actor.
How the love story began
The princess of Bikaner, Rajshri, who is the niece of Raj Singh Dungarpur, has written about the relationship between her maternal uncle and Lata Mangeshkar in her autobiography 'Palace of Clouds-A Memoir'. In her memoir she writes that the two met through Hridaynath Mangeshkar, who is the younger brother of Lata Mangeshkar.
Prince of royal family of Dungarpur, Raj Singh went to Mumbai in 1959 to study Law. He was a good player of cricket. Lata Mangeshkar's brother Hridaynath also used to play cricket. Because of this, Hridaynath and Raj Singh became friends.
Raj Singh used to often visit Hridaynath Mangeshkar's house. During his visit to the Mangeshkar household, he first met Lata Mangeshkar there. After mutual interaction, Raj Singh and Lata Mangeshkar became friends. It is written in the book that their initial friendship later transformed into love.
After completing his studies, Raj Singh returned to Dungarpur and discussed his intentions to marry Lata Mangeshkar with his family. Rajshri writes that the royal family did not want Raj Singh to marry someone from a non-royal family. Raj Singh Dungarpur had to succumb to family pressures and finally did not go ahead with the marriage plans.
However, they made their love story immortal by staying single for life. Rajyashree's autobiography also mentions that Raj Singh Dungarpur used to call Lata Mangeshkar 'Mithu' affectionately. It is said that on the death of Raj Singh in 2009, Lata Mangeshkar came to Dungarpur secretly to have one last 'darshan' of him.
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