Ahmedabad: “I am completely shattered. It looks like suddenly I have become very lonely in the world,” wailed 46-year-old Mahesh Rathod, who had been Lata Mangeshkar's caretaker and one of the personal assistants for the past 27 years.

Rathod, a native of Morangi village of Amreli, was inconsolable on Sunday as he conveyed the news to his close friend Nikunj Pandit, who also struggled to console him. “I only asked him to stay strong and gather himself as he had the responsibility due to the large number of important people coming to pay their last respects. It’s a tragic day for the entire family given their bonding with Lata didi,” said Pandit, a school principal.

While India mourned the demise of its nightingale, Rathod had more reasons to be heartbroken. After all, such was their bond that she considered him as his brother and had been tying him rakhi since 2001.

Speaking to TOI, Rathod’s wife Manisha recalled, “In 2001, Didi suddenly called up Mahesh’s uncle in Andheri where he had gone for Raksha Bandhan and asked him to reach her residence Prabhu Kunj. When my husband reached here, Didi was waiting with rakhi, much to his pleasant surprise.”

In fact, it was Lata who christened Rathod’s three daughters and son, something which the family still cherishes as a life-long memory. She chose the names Gayatri (19), Rajrajeshwari (12), Shraddha (10) for Mahesh's daughters and Rushikesh, who was born in 2015.

Manisha said when Shraddha was born at around 8am, theircow also gave birth to a calf after about 20 minutes. “Lata Didi named my daughter Shraddha and she even asked us to name the calf as Saburi,” she recalled.

Rathod has the distinction of being the possibly serving personal assistant to Lata. Before him, a Kolhapur man named Jainsingh was hired as her driver in 1951. He served the diva for 22 years.