She finally came down to the lobby, dressed simply in T-shirt, slacks and sneakers. Her bouncy, curly hair testified for her identity. As I got up to shake hands, I was instantly warmed towards her big and enthusiastic eyes and ever-smiling lips.

'This is my first day in Bangladesh, and I love it already!' she exclaimed. Once encouraged to speak a bit more about her brief experience in Dhaka, no one could stop her. 'I arrived from the airport on a hartal day. After reaching the hotel, I instantly went for my rehearsals. At night, I also had a couple of dinner parties in Baridhara. In between, I visited the malls, plazas and the popular handicraft shops you have here in Dhaka. I must say, Dhaka is not all that different from where I live in Mumbai. Everything feels so familiar and homely,' she quipped.

'My father was a student of Ustad Fayyaz Khan of the Agra Gharana,' Penaz remarked regarding her musical background. 'I had my classical training from Amanat Khan when I was very little. Later on I became a disciple of Madhurani, India's famed and most revered Ghazal exponent.'

'Music has always been there in my family.' She continued. 'I grew up with it. There was nothing else I ever wanted to do.' A commerce graduate, Penaz was a bright student both at school and college. 'I could have been a Chartered Accountant for all I know!' she joked. 'Back then, we kids were never as focused on career plans as the children are today. We just went to college and got distinction marks, only because we knew we had to do it.’

Talking about her albums and her sudden diversification towards pop music from Ghazal, Penaz said that she actually enjoys varieties and experimenting with music. 'It was in 1997 when Magnasound offered to do the album Tu dil de de. After that I worked on two more pop albums titled Dil mein ankhon mein and Lakeerein.'

Penaz was barely 13 years old in 1981 when she cut her first disk. Since then she has released over 28 albums, including 17 Ghazal titles. Penaz was awarded the Shehzadi e Ghazal from the government of Uttar Pradesh for her excellence in the field.

Penaz has travelled all around the world where her musical performances were well appreciated. 'I have flown to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mauritius, West Africa and many other countries including the Latin America,' Penaz remarked. 'In fact, the first Salsa track from the album Lakeerein was inspired by my trip to the Latin America,' she added.

Currently, Penaz is on a tour of the neighbouring countries. 'I began this tour on April 12 and went to Bhutan first, and then to Nepal,' she said. 'Dhaka is my last stop, then I am off for home,' smiled Penaz.

'The fact that music is a universal language, has proven to be true,' Penaz believes. 'The musical compositions I am singing are no different from what the musicians are singing here in Bangladesh. Language cannot be termed as a barrier,' she said. Probably to make her point, Penaz sang a couple of Bangladeshi folk numbers amongst her many filmi re-mixes, Ghazals and hip-hop numbers at the Osmani Memorial Hall last night.

Penaz will definitely continue to enthral her listeners and audience because she truly believes in hard work and perseverance. 'You have to learn music if you want to deal with it in any form,' she opined. 'To make music a part of you, you have to become a part of music itself.'