Begam Batool

In Begam Batool’s community, women were expected to sing only inside their homes. She chose the stage instead, and her voice has since been heard from Rajasthan’s villages to the Paris Olympics. In 2025 she was named for the Padma Shri in the field of art, from Rajasthan ^[1].

Against the odds

Begam Batool was born on 20 September 1956 in the village of Kerap in Rajasthan, into the Mirasi community of hereditary musicians ^[2]. She was married as a child, and learning music and singing in public were far from easy. With the support of her husband and sons, she has kept singing for about fifty years ^[2].

She sings bhajans and Maand, a Rajasthani folk style, and plays the harmonium, tabla, dholak, dhol and daf, as well as instruments such as the djembe and darbuka. Her signature is singing while playing the tabla herself ^[2].

On stages around the world

Since a first invitation to France in 2016, she has performed in more than a dozen countries across four continents ^[2]. She has sung at Paris’s Town Hall, at the Cannes film festival and at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and since 2017 has performed every year at a large Holi festival in Paris ^[2]. She is part of the fusion band “Bollywood Klezmer”, which brings together musicians of four faiths ^[2].

Opening doors for girls

Inspired by her, girls in her community are now learning and performing music, and she teaches traditional songs to young people ^[2]. She received the Nari Shakti Puraskar from the President of India in 2022 ^[2].