Our family belongs to the Mewati gharana. The Mangeshkars knew our family even before I was born. My dad Pratap Narayan Pandit was our guru and Pandit Hridayanath Mangeshkar even learnt under him. We were really like family she showered us with so much love and affection. My first brush with Ashaji must have been while singing Sa re ke sa re for Parichay (1972) with the other kids for Pancham (RD Burman). She tells me because I was the youngest and smallest she would lift me up and place me on the table. She would give us choco ice cream as a treat after the song.