Why Shashaa Tirupathi was called ‘mini Lata Mangeshkar’ as a kid

She might have grown-up abroad but Indian-born Canadian playback singer, ShashaaTirupati maintained her connect with her homeland through Hindi songs.

Talking about her life growing up in Vancouver in Canada, and how Hindi music became an important part of her journey, Tirupati shares, “I grew up listening to Hindi music, not English. That is what parents used to play at home. For us that was the connect we have with our home, our roots. So it was all old Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and Mukesh’s songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s. I used to subconsciously pick up those songs and sing them.”

The 32-year-old tells us that was how her parents realised her inclination towards singing and music and encouraged her to take it up when she was five.

Calling it a turning point in her life, she says, “I started performing and people started hearing me on the radio. I used to sing on the radio when I was 6 and they were all Lata [Mangeshkar] and [Mohammed] Rafi songs on the radio. From there I started to be called mini Lata Mangeshkar. I even got chosen for live concert on public demand by the Indo-Candaian community.”

The Khulke Jeene Ka (Dil Bechara; 2020) singr, who recently released two singles, In My Skin and I’m Sorry, Heart, says hence the passing of Mangeshkar feels like a personal loss to her, even though she had never met the late singer in person.

“It is her songs that listened to and her songs I did covers of. She has been my companion growing up in a way through her songs. I don’t know if she knew of me. I feel so unfortunate that I never had the privilege of meeting her but I feel that I had known her all my life,” she ends.