The Times of India has called her "Malika-e-Ghazal" (Queen of Ghazal). In 2005, she was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz , Pakistan's second highest civilian honour by President Pervez Musharraf .  Born in (1935) in Calcutta and raised in Amritsar . Her sister is Mukhtar Begum . She started learning Khayal from her