I’m the voice of Nizamabad!!!

Unexpected, but did win the award in Hindi category for Voice of Nizamabad competition yesterday! I didn’t want to perform on the stage, its as fearful for me, as a dentist visit is, for every patient. And without me knowing it, my friend Sam enrolled my name in the competition.
He’s always supportive, and appreciates my voice. I never like my voice, and keep underestimating myself, probably might be due to the stage fear.

Yesterday, after a few hours of practice we went to the venue where Rotary Club of Nizamabad had organized this competition, and there the list of participants was already long and till the program started, there were more than 60 names registered, both in Hindi and Telugu.

Auditions – Different.. from any other competition. Usually auditions are done without a mic and just the judges and participant. Here it was directly with the mic on the stage, with everyone staring with expectations. I was totally tensed and my voice shivered as i started “Ab Mujhe Raat Din” by Sonu Nigam.. just sang 4 lines and handed over the mic and ran to my place to sit and relax, already decided in my mind that i’m out of the competition. No one can judge a voice by just 4 lines sung there..

I left the place and was returning to hostel, half-way and my friends called me up, telling that I was selected. I said i can’t sing now, already decided. And still, again, if my friends weren’t there for me, i would have probably not returned back to the venue for the final round. They forced me and i rode the bike so speed risking everything to reach the place in just a couple of minutes. And just after reaching there, it was my chance to sing!

Every participant had to sing according to the speed and rythm provided by the orchestra there, but still i had my college-mate junior playing the guitar for me, the song “Aadat – Jal Pari”.. I started it with some frustration but the response and support i got in there, was never expected. People who didn’t know me, also applauded and cheered while i was singing, giving me inner boosts and i didn’t break a single word in middle. Gave a lot better performance than what I had given in the Annual Day program in my college few months back. All friends and supporters of mine waving their hands synchronously when i was on the stage!

After I finished singing, the organizers decided to give away prizes in different categories – Hindi and English, which was not decided earlier. 4 finalists from Hindi and 8 from Telugu. It was a tight call between me and my junior Manasa, who had sung “Humko hum hi se churalo – Mohobbatein” very well. The other two did not give their best, and while singing I had been seeing the judges who were sitting with wide smiles and applause when i was performing; a positive sign for me!!

And the story finally ended with me being announced as the winner in the Hindi category! I loved it!! Love all my friends who have been supporting me and had faith in me, confidence in me, and helped me throw away the fear out of me!

Posted in Updates on October 13, 2009