The singer, who has trained under Mehdi Hasan, feels that 'it is easier to perform ghazals live in Pakistan than in India because of the difference in audience.

'India is a country of multiple languages and it is difficult to carry the words to people. The purity of traditional ghazal is compromised. But in Pakistan, almost everyone understands Urdu and I do not sing in any language other than Urdu,' Sani said.

The musician has been trying to popularise Urdu ghazals in her country and abroad. 'At a concert last year in Pakistan, I distributed English translations of the ghazals that I was singing to school children. The translations were by Khushwant Singh.

'On October 23, when I perform 'Shikwa' and 'Jabab-e-Shikwa' in Muscat, two famous poems by Muhammed Iqbal, I will once again use Khushwant Singh's translation of the poem in English for the audience to understand,' she said.

Sani has grown up listening to taped versions of Indian classical music.

'I love Raag Durga. When I was a kid, my father, who is a classical music buff, once bought me a taped cassette of sitar maestro Ajoy Chkaraborty's rendition of Raag Durga. Inspired by it, years later, I began my recital with a 'bandish' in Raag Durga at a concert in Pakistan. It was a kind of a bridge between the two nations,' she said.

But the problem is that the listeners' base in Pakistan is very small, confined to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, she rued. 'In comparison, India has a much wider listeners' base,' she said.

Sani's favourite musicians include M.S. Subbalaxmi, Shubha Mudgal, Amjad Ali Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Allah Rakha, Pandit Jasraj and Hariprasad Chaurasia.