She earned 15 rupees per song and was awarded 5,000 on the completion of the contract on Xenophone. When she won a contract with a recording company, her father agreed to let her sing on the condition that she would record in a burka and not allow herself to be photographed. It was Begum’s paternal uncle Aamir Khan who convinced her father, Miya Hussain Baksh, to allow her to sing. Begum said in an interview, "I sang Bahadur Shah Zafar’s (the poet-ruler) ghazal Mera yaar mujhe mile agar." An impressed Haider gave her a contract for twelve songs, with facilities provided to top singers. In 1931, when she was twelve, her uncle, who enjoyed qawwalis and ghazals, secretly took her to Jenophone (or Xenophone) Music Company for an audition with Lahore-based musician and composer, Ghulam Haider. Her singing ambitions, which she held from 1929, met with opposition from her family. At 10, she started singing folk-based songs at religious functions and family marriages. Impressed by the quality of her voice, she was made head singer of classroom prayer. Begum’s talent was first spotted by her principal when she was in primary school in 1924.
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