“In my opinion, the biggest achievement was by Shankar-Jaikishan. With Raj Kapoor’s ‘Barsaat,’ they changed the way we looked at playback singing.”

I have a fierce temper. I’ve mastered it over the years, but when I’m angry, no one can force me to do anything I don’t want to.

I wish I had given more time to learning classical singing.

I feel I am a little unfit for the kind of music that is being made today. There is a big difference between what I sang earlier and what is being made now. I am not saying this music is bad, but there are too many beats.

One has to be fully committed to one’s career. Otherwise, there’s no point.

I feel God has sent me to Earth to sing. I started singing when I was five, but I don’t think I’ve worked as hard as many other people.

I missed out on my childhood. I had to work hard, but I was immediately given a place in playback.

I wouldn’t let a biopic be made on me. That’s because I don’t believe in them. I don’t like them.

From my experience and understanding, I believe money follows name and fame, while recognition calls for a huge amount of sacrifice. To get something, you have to lose something. That’s the rule of life.

I have been singing for the last 50 years, you know, so I deserve a break. Besides, there are talented singers around who can do justice to their work.

My father passed away in 1942, and three-four months after his death, I had to start working. There was a responsibility on my shoulders to run the household. It was my duty as the eldest child in the house.

There are so many songs that I could not sing the way I wanted to. When such songs come on television or radio, I shut them off or leave the room.

For me, awards are a token of respect that people are giving me. So no matter how many awards I am receiving, I always feel emotional.

As a singer, you have to bring the soul to the song.

Today, the scope for variety has shrunk drastically. There are only a handful of topnotch composers like A. R. Rahman, Anu Malik, Jatin-Lalit that’s it.

I appreciate the change associated with people’s growth, but I don’t like the changes in our lives. I came to Mumbai in 1945, so imagine my acceptance of the massive changes around. I have witnessed every kind of revolution.

The privileged classes today are bothered about petrol and diesel prices while the poor can’t afford two meals a day. I am a very small person, but I want us to think beyond personal and regional interests.

It was a personal decision for me to stand and say that cricket is all I have in life, there’s nothing I need to do other than cricket. If I want to achieve whatever I thought as a kid, I need to work hard and not let it go to waste.

I want to elongate my cricketing career as a consistent player. I have personal goals I would like to achieve someday.

Ambition is an uncomfortable companion many times. He creates a discontent with present surroundings and achievements; he is never satisfied but always pressing forward to better things in the future. Restless, energetic, purposeful, it is ambition that makes of the creature a real man.

With determination, you can achieve anything. Put your mind to being the best you can be and everything is possible.

It is not just about the money, it is about what you achieve on the pitch.

To achieve the possible, we must attempt the impossible again and again.

My mom always told me that if you work hard, you can achieve anything. And it’s true. It’s one of the truest things ever.

From my experience of having served for 3000 days, I can say that anything can be achieved.