I was born in Bombay in 1949 where my father was an accomplished harmonium player and an assistant music director to the famed GhulamHaider. Being an only son, my father wanted me to follow his footsteps and learn violin. The only problem was, I was more interested in learning how to play my own vocal chords. When my father realized my preference, he sent at the age of 13 to learn classical singing from Abdul Rehman Khan, who had trained the famous singer MahendraKapoor.Upon graduating from school, I decided against going to college and opted instead to pursue my singing career.Following bit appearances in many public programs, I was finally spotted by music director KamalRajasthani who was composing music for a film called Mere Garib Nawaz.