But for him, I would not have been Lata

I reached the top because of Naushad Saheb. I have had a long musical journey with him. I started working with him in 1948. Guddu was the last film in which I sang for him.

In the beginning, I faced difficulty pronouncing Hindi words. He told me if I got them right, the sky would be the limit for me. You also got a lot of freedom working with him. I always called him Bade Bhaiya; he, too, considered me his younger sister.

With his death, an era has ended. It was typical of him to compose simple, beautiful tunes based on complicated ragas: even the common man could sing his songs.

His experimentation with classical music is unmatched. He had an eye for the smallest of details. He was particular about how every single word was to be handled in a song.

Although I like all his songs, my favourites are those from Mughal-e-Azam and Baiju Bawra. As a person, he was a noble human being. He would be the first to come to the aid of someone in difficulty. He was very respectful towards artistes and would never utter a word that could hurt anybody.

—As told to Ashish Bhinde and Chandrakant Shinde