Argentine fan names rose after Lata Mangeshkar

A Lata Mangeshkar fan from Argentina, Santiago Lopez, who is a florist by profession, has named a rose in honour of the veteran playback singer.

The 89-year-old melody queen, who was "deeply touched" by the gesture, posted an image of the royal blue rose on her Twitter handle. She further revealed that Lopez, who is Spanish by birth, is learning Sanskrit, Hindi and Yoga.

"Namaskaar, I was deeply touched by this, so sharing it with you all. Mr. Santiago Lopez, living in Argentina and Spanish by birth, is my fan and a florist by profession. He has named this flower Lata. He has also taken to learning Sanskrit, Hindi and Yoga. Humbled and grateful," Mangeshkar wrote on the micro-blogging site.

Born on September 28, 1929, Mangeshkar is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in the country. She is a recipient of three National Film Awards, 12 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards and many more.

In a career span of over seven decades, the 'Lag Ja Gale Se' singer has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and sung in over thirty-six regional Indian languages and foreign languages.

Mangeshkar is also the second vocalist, after late Indian singer M. S. Subbulakshmi, to have ever been awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001.