Eleven-year-old Naisha Mishra from Bhubaneswar is a girl of many talents. The Class VI student of Loyola School, Bhubaneswar, has earned all round appreciation for her mellifluous voice and bagged a few awards. So far, the tween has performed on more than 50 stages in Bhubaneswar. Apart from singing, she is good at writing short stories and poems.
Daughter of Girija and Sriparna Mishra of Bhubaneswar, Naisha started taking interest in singing when she was about six years old. Sriparna who spotted her talent says, “Every member of my family now loves music. Naisha may be the reason. I was excited when I noticed her taking interest in singing. She used to pick up the rhythm of songs that she listened to when she was a kid. Initially, she participated in school competitions. Then I sent her to Guru Karunakar Nayak so that she got the right platform to perfect her skill. Noticing her talent, her school teachers also asked me to encourage her.”
Naisha says, “I sing Hindustani Classical and Light Vocal. Both are my favourites. I am learning Hindustani Classical from Karunakar Nayak and Light Vocal from Sarada Prasanna Sahoo. Both of them help me to brush up my skill. I have performed on more than 50 occasions in Bhubaneswar and topped in many competitions. I have performed at children’s festivals organised by non- government organisation PECUC every year in November. I was honoured to sing at a programme ‘Kamal Desa Nua Kalika’ organised by Prafulla Kar Foundation and I received a lot of appreciation. Apart from that, I got the opportunity to showcase my talent in a competition Classical Voice of India and was a topper in the regional category. I had also participated in the reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l champs in the year 2017 and was selected to the Studio round. This year also I have reached the Gala round of this competition. Besides, I have performed many times at Rabindra Mandap and Utkala Mandap, the two main auditoriums of Bhubaneswar.”
Apart from singing, Naisha is good at her studies. She is very popular with her school teachers for doing well in examinations. She loves to write poems and short stories when she gets time to spare from her studies and singing, says her mother. Some of her short stories have been published in local newspapers and magazines, she adds.
Sriparna says, “Naisha is now working on a few other short stories and we are trying to compile them in a book. As we are both working, we hardly get time to guide her. But she is quite responsible for her age and never lets extra-curricular activities come in the way of her studies. She manages everything with a little bit of help from our side. Of all the subjects, she is good in English, Math and computer. All her teachers encourage her to accomplish the goal she has set for herself.”
“We feel blessed to have her as our daughter,” says Girija Mishra, Naisha’s father. “Even if she is stressed about her studies, she never neglects her singing practice and other extra-curricular activities. We are planning to launch a YouTube channel so that more people can listen to her. While she wants to perform in other states and metro cities to get recognition, she also wants to become a good author by working hard on her writing skills.”
BRATATI BARAL, OP
