I could not bring myself to sing in front of her: Sabina Yasmin

The world mourns the loss of musical legend Lata Mangeshkar, irrespective of nationality. Eminent Bangladeshi singer Sabina Yasmin is also shocked at her passing.

"What can I even say about such a great artiste? I am speechless, I am hurt" she says. "Saraswati Puja was celebrated the day before, and now she left. We lost the Saraswati of music!"

Sabina Yasmin fondly recalls her meeting with the legend, during the Bangladesh Film Festival in India. "S D Burman was there, and he asked me to sing a song, and I complied," says Sabina, who saw Lata Mangeshkar enter when she was about to sing a second song. "I immediately froze; I could not believe that I was seeing her in person. I could not bring myself to sing in front of her."

The singer, through her nervousness, mustered up the courage to sing in front of 'Saraswati' herself. "She listened to me sing in immense concentration, and then smiled and blessed me. I will never forget that day."

"May her departed soul rest in peace," concludes Sabina.