Of gardens, spreads and the Queens of England and of Bollywood

The faboo Langthorns Plantery, Bishop's Stortford, Essex [by Royal Appointment to HM The King]

So, I'm back from my jolly jaunt to Essex, doing a Grand Tour of the myriad wonderful garden centres in that county, thanks to Baby Steve and Houseboy Alex. The extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers are going to be even fuller as a result - YAY! [And I have spent most of today out there, dodging the downpours, sorting stuff out and potting things up in preparation.]

But what did I miss while I was away?

• The highly anticipated exhibition Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style at the King's Gallery opened. A centenary celebration for the very much-missed HM The Queen, it has on display for the first time "items of her clothing worn in all ten decades of her life - from birth to adulthood, from princess to queen, and from off-duty style to dressing for the global stage for momentous occasions in Britain’s history". Needless to say, we have our tickets booked for July, when we'll be going along to view it with The Mother...
• Hot on the heels of the "Great Marmalade Outrage" [our own, our very own British marmalade will henceforth have to be described as "citrus marmalade" because of the bloody EU; apparently "Johnny Foreigner" wants the right to call their fig/apricot/other fruit concoction "marmalade" as well, rather than the pseudo-jam that it is] - now it seems that another great British spread for toast, Gentleman's Relish (Patum Peperium) has been discontinued. Scandalous!

• ...and, sadly, I missed paying a fond farewell to another Patron Saint - Miss Asha Bhosle, Bollywood's "Queen of Playback" [singing the vocals for actresses who appeared on screen] for over eight decades, who has ascended the flower-strewn, incence-scented stairway to her Vaikuntha in Fabulon, aged 92. The Guinness Book of Records states that she was the most prolific recording artist in the world, having reportedly recorded up to 12,000 solo, duet and chorus backed songs in over 20 Indian languages since 1947!

  So let us pay the great lady due tribute:

Here she is, dubbing for the magnificently camp "Helen" (Helen Jairag Richardson) - a megastar in Indian musical cinema in the 1960s:

Helen - Naach e Dil

...and here, dubbing for Reena Roy:

Kitnay Bhi Tu Kar Le Sitam [from Sanam Teri Kasam]

And finally - recognising the fact that even though I am on leave (almost) all this week, it is Tacky Music Monday - here's the lady herself, aged 79, with a tongue-in-cheek take on an old Usha Uthup number [from the only Bollywood film in which Rex Harrison and Vera Miles ever appeared, Shalimar]...

Asha Bhosle - Cha Cha Cha Song (Dance Masti Mix 2012)

Sublime.

RIP, Asha Bhosle (born Ashalata Dinanath Mangeshkar, 8th September 1933 – 12th April 2026)

Have a good week, dear reader.

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FOOTNOTE:

Of course, I could not let any such tribute pass without playing this famous paean to her!

Cornershop - Brimful of Asha

A Brimful

It's the 90th birthday tomorrow of the utterly fantabulosa Bollywood "playback singer" Asha Bhosle, whose exquisite voice appeared, dubbing myriad actresses, over eight decades in hundreds of movies. Indeed, the Guinness Book of Records states that she is the most prolific recording artist in the world, having reportedly recorded up to 11,000 solo, duet and chorus backed songs in over 20 Indian languages since 1947!

Here she is, dubbing for the magnificently camp "Helen" (Helen Jairag Richardson) - a megastar in Indian musical cinema in the 1960s:

Helen in Talash [vocals by Asha Bhosle]

...and here, dubbing for Reena Roy:

Kitnay Bhi Tu Kar Le Sitam [from Sanam Teri Kasam]

...here's the lady herself, aged 79, with a tongue-in-cheek take on an old Usha Uthup number [from the only Bollywood film in which Rex Harrison and Vera Miles ever appeared, Shalimar]...

Asha Bhosle - Cha Cha Cha Song (Dance Masti Mix 2012)

Sublime.

Of course, I could not let this opportunity pass without playing this marvellous paean to her!

Cornershop - Brimful of Asha

Many happy returns, Asha Bhosle (née Mangeshkar, born 8 September 1933)

Curry and snow

Moi, Hils, The Madam and John-John with diamonds

Despite the blizzard, and the (very real) threat they might be snowed in here at Dolores Delargo Towers (the last taxi only got here at 2.30am after struggling through the frozen streets), we and our guests had a ball at our "Curry Night" for Madam Arcati's birthday!

With five types of curry dish, naan, pakora, bhaji and pickles to get through, we were all full to bursting but still managed to get some "Bollywood" moves in! Among the songs we played...

The very jaunty Helen (Helen Jairag Richardson) - star of several hit Indian films of the 70s, and dubbed as always by the marvellous voice of Asha Bhosle:

Helen - Naach e Dil

From the 2008 gay-themed crossover movie (set in America) Dostana, the energetic Master Saleem and Sunidhi Chauhan:

Maa Da Ladla (Mummy Mix)

Tha fabulous Ever so Lonely by Monsoon (Sheila Chandra), a song I have always loved since it hit the upper reaches of the UK charts (the first Indian song to do so) way back in 1982:

Monsoon - Ever So Lonely

And, of course, a party would not be a party without Usha Uthup and a bit of Disco Bollywood:

Usha Uthup - Disco Bollywood

A fab night - and we had six inches (of snow) to enjoy, too!


Cronain in his element

A little spicy

We are off to Brick Lane tonight in celebration of History Boy's birthday, which is always something to look forward to. However, I am worried.

You see, this sort of thing always happens to me whenever I go for a curry...

Helen, dubbed by Asha Bhosle - Monika O My Darling

Bollywood vamp Helen on Wikipedia