10-year-old is a musical 'wonder'

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The Times of India> Tuesday, July 17, 2007>> 10-year-old is a musical 'wonder'>> By Harshad Pandharipande,TNN>> 18 Jul 2007, 0443 hrs IST,>> NAGPUR: When he sings, he closes his eyes tight. And when he finishes theinvariably flawless rendition of a song and opens his eyes, he can't quitesee the wonderment - or, in many cases, tears - on the faces of those he'sjust enthralled. This 10-year-old musical prodigy is almost completelyvisually-impaired. However, that hasn't stopped him from dreaming big.>> A Limca record holder, Mayank Sahu - who can only see things as vagueshapes and in black and white - has set his sights on becoming a lightclassical singer and music director.>> Pandit Jasraj, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, PankajUdhas, Louis Banks and Sadhana Sargam are just some virtuosos who have sungpaeans to Mayank. After testing him in their own way, they've called him'one of Almighty's miracles' and 'wonder boy.'>> Mayank's biggest gift, however, remains his almost unexplainable abilityto recognise even the most complex musical notes with jaw-dropping accuracy.It is acknowledged that recognising the exact 'swaras' is something evenpeople trained for decades struggle to do.>> Mayank's parents, businessman and music enthusiast Manoj and Tanjorepainter Komal, stumbled upon their son's talent quite accidentally. It allstarted in 2000, when Manoj was in the middle of a music lesson with hiselder daughter Ankita.>> "I played some random notes on the harmonium and three-year-old Mayank,who was standing nearby, immediately recognised them correctly," Manojremembers. Amazed, Manoj again played some random notes. Little Mayank wasup to the task again. Instantly, the realisation and potential of Mayank'stalent dawned on his parents, much to their delight.>> The days leading up to this period, however, weren't always so rosy. Saysmother Komal: "When he was two, Mayank developed a high fever. Due to thesickness, his optic nerve was damaged irreparably. But since he was tooyoung, he couldn't even tell us that his vision was failing.">> By the time they suspected something was amiss, it was almost too late:Mayank had lost almost 95 per cent of his sight. "The doctor told us totreat him as a blind child," Komal says.>> "We were shattered. But life had to go on." So, as Mayank lay recoveringin bed, his father used to play music or give Ankita some lessons. "Whoknows, may be that had an indelible impression on Mayank," his mother says.>> As time passed, Mayank's talent, honed by his parents, only got refined.Since he had a strong foundation, learning various musical instruments wasonly a matter of physical effort.>> Today, the boy can play the Western keyboard, harmonium, mandolin, violinand tabla. This apart, he also learns classical and semi-classical music.>> A brilliant student, he practises for about six hours a day and says he'salways game for more. He has performed in over 100 shows, small and big, andknows about 200 songs by heart. These range from bhajans to ghazals, goldenoldies to the latest numbers.>> All this hasn't gone unrewarded: Mayank has won several awards, chiefamong them the Pogo Amazing Kids award in 2004.>> Mayank is shy and lets his music do the talking for him. "I have nofavourite songs or singers. I just love music," is all he says.