Disability no bar for this 13-year-old Mandi singer

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 4

Thirteen-year-old singer Payal Thakur has proved that disability is no bar when it comes to achieving one’s goal. Payal, who is visually impaired, will respresent the country in the fifth International Children’s Creativity Festival “We Can” at St Petersburg.

On April 18, Payal, the only Indian participating in the event, will share the stage with special children from Romania, France, Armenia, Ukraine and Russia, along with Russian celebrities. The event is being organised by a charity foundation “Kind People” supported by the legislative assembly of St Petersburg and its committee for culture.

A formal invitation on behalf of the foundation was sent to her by Governor Acharya Devvrat on Wednesday in the presence of the president, National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA), Preetpal Singh Punnu, who will escort Payal, along with her uncle Devraj, to Russia.

Payal, shot to fame from “Sa Re Ga Ma Little Champs” singing contest. Her performance was seen by “Kind People” on YouTube and they wanted her to represent the country.

Daughter of an auto driver, Tevinder Kumar, Payal, a Class VIII student, hails from Maddhar village in Mandi and is presently living in Kullu. She is studying in two schools — Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, Sultanpur, (10 am to 1 pm) and Chanderabha Memorial School for Blind (2 pm to 8 pm).

An ardent music lover, Payal, is being coached in classical music by Pt Vidya Sagar Sharma for the past five years and is conversant with computers with the help of speaking software.

“From early childhood, Payal used to tap the table and sing whenever music was played on television and finding her interest towards music, we decided to encourage her,” her father said.

A fan of Shankar Mahadevan and rapper Badshah, Payal sings pahari, ghazals, classical, western, sufi and has inclination towards rapping. Her music video “Ek Nanhi Se Duniya” made for cancer patients has more than 1 million views on YouTube.

A gifted child, Payal picks up the beats and rhythm and starts singing, but never gets excited. When asked if she was enthused to go to Russia, she said: “I am happy that I will sing and people will come to listen to me.”

Punnu said Payal’s participation was significant as it was the 70th year of Indo-Russian diplomatic relations and what could be a better way to stregthen the bond. The melodious voice of Payal will certainly delight one and all.