Asha Bhosle felicitated in the House of Commons

H S Rao
London, March 23 (PTI) Renowned Indian playback singer
Asha Bhosle was felicitated in the House of Commons here for
her outstanding achievements in music.
NRI Labour MP Keith Vaz, who organised the
felicitation dinner, described the 77-year-old Padma Vibhushan
(second highest civilian award given by the Government of
India) as an "icon" who has made India proud.
"I am deeply touched by the honour bestowed on me. I
never thought I would be felicitated in the British
Parliament. It is a great privilege," said Bhosle, who
performed to a houseful audience at the Royal Festival Hall,
Symphony Hall in Birmingham and Leicester's De Montfort Hall
during her current tour.
She also lauded the efforts of Vaz in promoting Indian
artists in the UK, saying, "I am very proud of you. Like you,
my roots are also in Goa."
Dr Rami Ranger, a NRI entrepreneur described the
felicitation as "historic". "Your presence here is like a
dream come true. We are all very proud of you," he told the
veteran singer.
Bhosle, whose career as a Bollywood singer started in
1943 and spans a staggering six decades, has contributed to
the soundtracks of over 1000 Bollywood films.
Her repertoire includes Qawwali, film music, classical
Indian, pop and folk. In September 2009 the World Records
Academy recognized her as the "Most Recorded Artist" in the
world.
She was also awarded the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke
Award.
She has sung in multiple languages, including Hindi,
Assamese, Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi,
Tamil, English, Russian, Czech, Nepali, Malay and Malayalam.