Lata Mangeshkar and her special relationship with her siblings

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Vocal queen Lata Mangeshkar needs no introduction. A daughter born on 29 December 1929 in the house of musician Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar was named Hema Mangeshkar, 5 years later the father changed the daughter’s name to Lata.

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Image: Getty Images

He was a Marathi performer and Lata used to perform as an actress in his musical plays. Earlier the family surname was Hardikar but they changed it to Mangeshkar as they wanted to identify with their birthplace of Mangeshi in Goa. She has 1 brother and 4 sisters Meena, Asha, Usha and Hridaynath Mangeshkar - all accomplished singers and musicians.

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She was crowned the Nightingale of India and The Daughter of the Nation. She was also awarded the highest civilian award for India by the Government. Throughout her career, she got many awards and achievements.

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The Mangeshkars have all given quite memorable gems to the country. All of the siblings are very well renowned artists. Who can forget the soulful voice of the perfect two Lata and Asha, also their brother Hridaynath is known as Balasaheb in the industry. There’s also a book showcasing Meena’s journey from Lata Mangeshkar’s struggles titled Didi Aur Main.

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Lata shares a very sweet and important role in her sibling’s lives. When Lata Mangeshkar was 13 years old, it was then that a calamity fell upon them as the family lost their sole breadwinner, their father and so Lata being the eldest in the family had to start working.

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She started working at a very young age. Seeing the responsibilities of siblings and household, time passed and she could not get married lifelong. Once Lata in an interview had said, “Actually the responsibility of all the members of the house was on me. In such a situation, even if the idea of marriage came up many times, I could not implement it. I started working at a very young age.”

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Lata's father died in 1942 and after that the financial condition of her family deteriorated. After that Lata Mangeshkar started playing small roles in Marathi and Hindi films and then slowly started singing. Today she is recognized not only in India but all over the world.