Farida Khanum
Farida Khanum (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani classical singer from the city of Kolkata West Bengal. She is also known by her honorific title "Malika-e-Ghazal" (The Queen of Ghazal) in both Pakistan and India. Early life. She was born in the fall of 1929 in Calcutta , British India. She had four siblings, a sister and three brothers. Her sister is the famous singer, Mukhtar Begum. Their whole family moved from Amritsar, in eastern Panjab (india) to Lahore, Pakistan when she was 18 years old. She started learning Khayal, Thumri and Dadra from Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan of  Patiala gharana. As a child, her sister Mukhtar Begum would take her to the Khan's place for regular "riyaaz" (practice of classical music). Her family moved to Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947. Career. Farida Khanum gave her first public concert in 1950 at the very young age of 21, and then joined Radio Pakistan where she gained recognition for herself. She became a star when Pakistan's president Ayub Khan invited her to a public recital in the 1960s. She has been a frequent performer on Pakistan Television and other Pakistani TV channels. The ghazal she  is most associated with is Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd Naa Karo written by the famous poet Fayyaz Hashmi. In 2015, at the age of 86, she sang this ghazal in Coke Studio (Pakistan) Season 8. Farida Khanum's live concerts in India have been very popular. She also visited Kabul, Afghanistan in the late 1960s or early 1970s for concerts, she collaborated with Afghan musicians and sang Persian-language ghazals there. Personal life. Farida Khanum lives in Lahore, Pakistan. She has five daughters and one son. Sheeba Hassan is her niece, who is known for her performance in the PTV  drama serial Sona Chandi (1982). Farida Khanum has been affectionately called "Queen of Ghazal" in Pakistan.