“When I start singing, I lose all sense of myself and my surroundings. It is as if a divine force takes over and makes me sing.” said the eternal Roshan Ara Begum, the undisputed Queen of Music.

Roshan Ara Begum was undoubtedly one of the greatest classical musicians of living memory not just in Pakistan, but across the entire Pak-Indo subcontinent. Her elaboration of the raag, command over each taan, rhythmic cycle and laikari were unmatched.

Roshan Ara Begum was aptly crowned Malika e Mausiqi (Queen of Music) in Pakistan and Saraswati (a Goddess in Hinduism) in India. Her singing was so sublime that it is said that after partition, Indians used to say 'Give us Roshan Ara, and we will give you Kashmir'. Hayat Ahmed Khan, the founder of the All Pakistan Music Conference used to say that when she starts singing, Roshan Ara becomes the most beautiful woman in the world. Not only was her singing umatched, she had a clear vision on what needs to be done to create a Pakistani culture, with multiple published articles on the same lines.

She received the President of Pakistan’s Pride of Performance and Sitara – e – Imtiaz, the highest civilian honours awarded by the Government of Pakistan. She was the reason for the creation of the All Pakistan Music Conference, one of its founding members and on its Executive Committee. The All Pakistan Music Conference is an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Pakistani classical music since 1959. The Roshan Ara Begum shield is now awarded to the best classical music performer in any age category at the annual student competition of the All Pakistan Music Conference held in Lahore, Pakistan.

Malika e Mausiqi (Queen of Music) Roshan Ara Begum (1915/1917 – Dec 1982) was born in Calcutta. Her real name was Waheedunissa Begum and Roshan Ara (The illuminator) Begum was her screen name given when she moved to Bombay. While the exact year of birth is uncertain, it is generally agreed that she was born between 1915 to 1917. Roshan Ara Begum received her primary music education from Ustad Abdul Karim Khan of the Kirana Gharana. Their singing is so similar that it is at times difficult to distinguish between the two when hearing their audio recordings. She made her singing debut in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in the 1930s and moved to Lalamusa, Pakistan in 1948 after the partition of the Pak-Indo subcontinent. For a decade, she lived in this small town, only occassionally travelling to Lahore to sing for the radio and was slipping towards obscurity until Hayat Ahmed Khan heard her announcement to stop singing and decided to give her a platform for the public at large to rediscover her magic. Her husband was a her biggest fan - always by her side during her performances.

Despite her widespread fame, Roshan Ara Begum was a humble and simple person. She remains celebrated and revered to this day.