Actually I sang with him on many occasions and most of our joint songs got immense popularity. He is not my husband he is just like my own brother.
Zarsanga and Malla Jan have nine children including three daughters and six sons. Shahzada, Zarsanga's second-oldest son, is also a musician. Zarsanga continues to live her sons and two grandchildren in Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In July 2017, her house was burgled by a group of unidentified assailants, who robbed the household of most valuables.
Career
Zarsanga was discovered at a young age by a local musician, Mustafa during a performance at a wedding event. Mustafa introduced her to Rashid Ali Dehqan, a producer of Radio Peshawar who called her in for an audition. Zarsanga was signed by the broadcasting company and would go on to perform some of her best known songs on Radio Pakistan. At the start of her career, Zarsanga would listen to the songs of Gulnar Begum, Kishwar Sultan, Bacha Zarin Jan, Khyal Muhammad, Ahmad Khan and Sabz Ali Ustad.
I liked all of them, but I have maintained my own traditional way of folk singing. The people would earnestly enjoy my songs on both sides of the Durand Line. I got no education so I cannot sing from a written paper. Most often I sing the songs that are composed and created by the common folk. However, my husband also wrote some of my popular songs.
A French researcher, Miss Kia, who worked with Radio France, once said Zarsanga's voice was the only mountainous voice in the Pashto language. Kia accompanied Zarsanga to France for a music concert, which was well received at the time. Zarsanga talked about performing live for international audiences in one of her interviews. Recalling her experience at a live music event in London she said, "I was singing a traditional folk song in Pashto about the mountains and gypsy life of the tribals and when I finished it, a British person came close to me and proudly remarked that he was also a gypsy." Over the course of an extensive career, spanning over five decades, Zarsanga has recorded and performed popular songs including "Da Bangriwal Pa Choli Ma Za", her only song on radio, "Zma Da Khro Jamo Yara", "Rasha Mama Zwi De", "Zma Da Ghrono Pana Yara", and "Kht Me Zanzeri De". She also continued to perform variously in international music tours in Germany, France, Belgium, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, United States, and United Kingdom. In 2018, Zarsanga appeared in the promotional video for the eleventh season of Coke Studio Pakistan. She later recorded a song for the eight episode of the season, performing "Rasha Mama" alongside Pashto band Khumariyaan and Gul Panra. The video was released on Coke Studio Pakistan's official YouTube on 16 August and has seen been viewed by over 6.8 million viewers.
Awards and honours
For her contributions to the field music and folk singing, Zarsanga was awarded the Pride of Performance Award by the Government of Pakistan. She has also been dubbed "The Queen Of Pashtun Folklore" by various media outlets.
