Srimati Hirabai Barodekar was born in 1905 at Baroda (close to Miraj in federal state Maharashtra). Her mother was Tarabai Mane and her father the legendary Kirana master Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. Kirana gharana is one of India's music schools. She grew up with two sisters: Kamalabai Barodekar (Gulab) and Sarswati Rane (Sakina or Chotutai) and two brothers: Suresh Babu Mane (Abdul Rehman) and Papa (Abdual Hamid or Krishna Rao Mane). She was considered the nightingale of India