Recalling her own experience, Asha mentioned that despite facing difficulties with her husband, she never considered divorce.“Nowadays, I hear about couples sending divorce papers every month,” she said. Ravi Shankar agreed, noting that people today lack the perseverance and strength that Asha had. He added that tolerance levels have dropped, and attraction often outweighs love in modern relationships.
She further added, “I have spent most of my years in the film industry and seen many people but, earlier, they never used to take such drastic steps like the current generation does. I feel that the love between them ends very soon and they get bored with each other fast too. Maybe that’s one of the main reasons (for the apparent increase in divorces).”
Asha also reflected on women’s rights to choose whether or not to have children. She shared how she balanced her career as a playback singer with raising her three children, despite her busy schedule.
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“Nowadays, women think childbearing is a burden. It’s perhaps a reality in the lower strata of society. But even the middle and higher class. I started working as a playback singer at the age of 10. During this time, I had three children, raised them, married them off and now have grandchildren. I executed all the responsibilities successfully and single-handedly, without my husband. I did all this when I was a busy professional, working day and night. Yet, I looked after my children, their studies,” she said.
At 16, Asha Bhosle eloped with 31-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle, her elder sister’s secretary, defying her family’s wishes to marry him. The couple had three children before divorcing in 1960. Later, in 1980, she married music director-actor RD Burman, and they stayed together until his passing in 1994.
Ravi Shankar praised her, saying that she has set a high standard for others to follow. “That’s because they are not familiar with your life. You have established a high standard. You are an ideal.”