A tribute on her Birth Centenary, October 7
A legend in her lifetime, who achieved enormous fame at a very young age, and gave joy to millions of listeners of many generations, including doyens like Mehdi Hasan, Talat Mahmood, Madan Mohan, Pt. Jasraj and Pt. Ravi Shankar, Begum Akhtar’s own life seems to be full of sorrow, pain, abusive relationships, betrayal by people she loved and a deep melancholy. She was born on 7 October 1914 (as Bibbi, along with her twin sister Anwari) to a court singer, Mushtari Bai at Faizabad (UP) and Asghar Ali, a civil judge in Lucknow. Mushtari Bai’s singing was causing a strain in the conservative Muslim family of her husband, and soon after the birth of the daughters, the marriage broke apart.