1st Begum Akhtar award goes to her two disciples

LUCKNOW: The last living Awadhi court singer and Hindustani classical music maestro Begum Akhtar's only living disciple Zarina Begum was spotted by the ghazal queen during a performance. Akhtar had taken a young Zarina under her wings to hone the talent she possessed. In the rightness of things, she was given the first Begum Akhtar award by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday.
Speaking about troubled times her family suffered over the past years, Zarina Begum hoped the award will help bring financial stability to the family and said, "We have never lived an extravagant life, instead faced dire need of money. My children have no stable means of income. This money will go a long way in improving our financial status."
At her peak, Zarina Begum was offered riches in unimaginable proportions by nawabs and royal families after her performance. After once such concert about 40 years ago, Nawab of Rampur offered her to stay back in their manor and lead a life of luxury. But, not one to be attracted to any amount of wealth or luxury, Zareena declined. She couldn't forego her 'riyaaz' in the favourite part of her house.
"When we were little, we often saw her locked up in a small storeroom with no light or fan. In there, she just had her harmonium. She would rehearse for 10-15 hours at a stretch without food or water," says her 30-something daughter Rubina.
Hit by paralysis about four years ago, Zarina cannot move without wheelchair. When she suffered the attack struck, the family couldn't arrange Rs 15,000 needed for treatment. "Rs 100 was all we had," said Naved, her son-in-law. The lack of money, the family said, deprived her of complete recovery.
"The only consolation is that her voice came back and her memory is intact. Losing them would've killed her anyway. She cannot live without singing. I had begged the doctor to save her voice," says Rubina.
Zarina and her husband Qurban, a celebrated tabla player, knew no banking, savings or investments. Whatever they earned was spent in the upbringing of their three children. Aslam, the eldest lives in Kanpur with his family and rarely visits due to his own struggles. Daughter Rubina and son-in-law Naved stay with her. The youngest, 36-year-old Ayub, is a tabla player inspired by his father but he lost his legs in an accident. He sings only in small qawwalli gatherings. The earnings are meager. Like his parents, he forgets hunger and thirst during riyaaz. Whatever he earns, he gives to his mother.

A descendant of Swami Haridas, Sunita Jhingran was born in Lucknow in the year 1952. She received the Begum Akhtar award along with Zarina Begum on Saturday. Trained by Begum Akhtar, Jhingran is known for her beautiful rendition of thumri, dadra, ghazal and even Sufiyana kalaam. Not only did she learn the art under Begum Akhtar, she also trained under other renowned artists like Ustad Afzal Husain Nagini, Pandit Harishankar Mishra and Pandit Siyaram Tiwari. 'Yaad-e-Hussain' is one of her most well accepted and acclaimed works.
Awarded with honors like the Urdu Academy Puraskar, the Saraswati Puraskar, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar in the past, Jhingran has now also been awarded with the Begum Akhtar Puraskar to add to her list of accolades.