Her earliest memories of childhood include staying locked up in a cupboard with a harmonium
and singing because she was afraid that someone would hear herand her folks would scold her.
Later on, she became a favouriteof the city and sang to a host of royal gatherings and marriages.
She is a master of the "ghazal", the traditional love song sung in Urdu, a north Indian language.
The song featured here is a "Thumri" which has been crafted with modern sensibility by a
highly skilled musician/producer called RAM SAMPAT.
Once a shining star of Lucknow "Gharana" in the 1970's, a series of misfortunes and the callousness
of an unappreciative bourgeois citizenry have forced this enchanting woman to a life of obscure poverty.
She laments:" What curse has fallen on this land and its people? Don't they have any taste in music anymore?
Please tell them ZARINA BEGUM is still alive and she sings..."

For further information, go to the following link..
http://www.myspace.com/zarinabegum