India, March 6 -- When Lata Mangeshkar, arguably the greatest and most influential singer in modern Indian history, died a few years ago, a number of tributes were written for her. News portals carried stories about little-known facts from her life. One was about her love for cricket, and how she received free tickets for every match the Indian team played in the country. That story omitted to tell the backstory behind this, though. The man who made this possible was a former cricketer, administrator, and someone often referred to as Lata's only 'romantic partner' - Raj Singh Dungarpur. (Also read: When Lata Mangeshkar talked about 'ajeeb sa khalipan' that people's deaths leave behind)

Born in the erstwhile princely state of Dungarpur in...