Born on September 28, 1929, Lata Mangeshkar is not just one of the greatest playback singers of all time but also one of the most respected celebrities in the Indian film and music industry. From recording songs in 36 Indian languages to being bestowed with the Dadasahed Phalke Award in 1989, she is the first Indian to perform at Royal Albert Hall, London.
While her professional life is crowded with uncountable awards, trophies, accolades, and titles, her personal life often surprises many people, as she remained unmarried all her life. While the singer herself never opened up about the same, here's a report that takes us inside the two prime factors behind Lata Mangeshkar's decision to not marry anyone till the end of her life.
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According to a report on patrika.com, there are two prime reasons behind the legendary singer, Lata Mangeshkar's decision to not marry anyone in her life. The first one is a well-known fact that right from an early age, she had taken care of her siblings, Meena, Asha, Usha, and Hridayanath. From taking care of their education to helping them achieve a certain degree of stability in their respective careers, Lata never thought of stealing some time from her commitment towards her siblings. Years passed, decades passed, and just when she thought of embracing marriage in her life, destiny pulled all the wrong strings to break her dreams.
Moving forward to that painful second reason behind Lata Mangeshkar's decision to remain unmarried until the end of her life. As per the same report in Patrika.com, the late cricketer and former President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Raj Singh Dungarpur, was a close friend of Lata's brother, Hridaynath Mangeshkar. The former cricketer had belonged to the royal family of Rajasthan and was the youngest son of the late Maharawal Lakshman Singhji, the then-ruler of Dungarpur.
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Hridaynath Mangeshkar and Raj Singh Dungarpur were really good friends. Most of their meetings used to be at Hridaynath's house, and that is when and where Raj Singh had developed a friendly bond with his good friend's eldest sister, Lata Mangeshkar. After a series of get-togethers between Raj Singh and Lata, the two had started feeling something for each other, and with time, they had fallen in love with each other. It is also reported that Raj Singh used to call Lata Mangeshkar by the name 'Mithoo'.
The report further stated that both Lata Mangeshkar and Raj Singh Dungarpur were planning to get married, but when the latter had informed his parents about the same, his father, Maharawal Lakshman Singhji, had rejected their idea of getting married. The reason behind it was the fact that Lata wasn't from a royal family. Hence, Maharawal Lakshman couldn't let his son, Raj Singh, marry a common girl.
The firm decision of Maharawal Lakshman Singhji had broken Raj Singh Dungarpur and Lata Mangeshkar's castle of dreams in split seconds. That's when Raj Singh had decided to accept his father's decision because of his immense love and respect for him, but the doting son had vowed not to marry anyone in his whole life and had informed his parents about it. However, Lata Mangeshkar was also madly in love with Raj Singh, as a result, the iconic singer had also vowed the same, and the two had remained friends for life.
It was on September 12, 2009, that Raj Singh Dungarpur had died in Mumbai due to his prolonged battle with Alzheimer's disease. There's no denying the fact that Lata Mangeshkar and Raj Singh Dungarpur's love story didn't have the best ending, but what it has is surely quite rare in today's time, and that is 'commitment, love, and trust, of a lifetime'.
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However, Lata Mangeshkar and Raj Singh Dungarpur had neither talked nor reacted to the reports of their possible relationship.
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