Duniya ke saath badalna chahiye (we must change with the world),вЂќ says the veteran who lives with daughter Usha Ratra and son-in-law Lieutenant Colonel Yogesh Ratra in serene Powai. And unlike most singers sheвЂ™s not offended that her hit numbers are being remixed today. I met Master Ghulam Haider saab,вЂќ she says of the maestro who was her mentor. вЂњMere sitare uruj pe the (my stars were on the ascent), the day I had no ladai (fight) with anyone,вЂќ she narrates raising her hands in gratitude. I never insisted that IвЂ™d sing only the heroineвЂ™s numbers. Firm that sheвЂ™ll not lambast the composers who used her as a stepping stone and then ignored her. Firm that she doesnвЂ™t want a recorder around. As if on cue she sings the zingy C Ramchandra number Sunday ke Sunday complete with the rhyme, вЂYe dil beating kya jaane.yeh chasing hunting kya jaaneвЂ™.ДЇun loving as she is, sheвЂ™s firm. But the lines on her face have left her heart untouched. вЂњBahut gandh ho gayi thi (the scene had become dirty),вЂќ she says cryptically of her voluntary retirement. Instant fame, adulation, separation from loved ones and then a retreat from rivalry.

Her lucent eyes mirror the changing notes in her life. Dressed in salwar kameez she moves with a walker. While her pictures shot in her heyday show her as a robust woman, today Shamshad Begum at 92 is frail and almost angelic. The romantic Saiyan dil mein aana re (Bahar), the teasing Kahin pe nigahen kahin pe nishana (CID), the pathos-dipped Chod babul ka ghar and even the Hinglish ditty Meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday (Shehnai) are all classics from songstress Shamshad Begum who ruled between the вЂ™40s-вЂ™60s.

Song shamshad begum