New Delhi, April 17 -- Around 2005 I walked into the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. I was a little nervous. I had after much back and forth with the organisers snagged a face-to-face interview with a living legend-Asha Bhosle. She was collaborating with the renowned Kronos Quartet, recreating some of R.D. Burman's classic songs with them for a new album, You've Stolen My Heart, an unusual choice for Kronos who usually works with the composer.

I had seen Asha Bhosle in the flesh once decades before. We were on a family vacation in Shimla. One day a guest walked over to the piano in the lobby and casually played a few notes. My mother said in hushed tones "Do you know who that is? It's Asha Bhosle." I was just a little kid. I didn't know...