Three-year-old prodigy captivates music lovers in Rajkot

At a tender age of three years, Shivam Singh of Gujarats Rajkot District is a little wonder. The child prodigy sings melodiously and plays traditional Indian musical instruments with as much ease and aptness as he recites his nursery rhymes.

Rajkot, Sept 23 : At a tender age of three years, Shivam Singh of Gujarat's Rajkot District is a little wonder. The child prodigy sings melodiously and plays traditional Indian musical instruments with as much ease and aptness as he recites his nursery rhymes.

His expertise in music is evident in the effortless manner with which he renders both melodious hymns and classical music, and taps apt rhythms on tabla and plays harmonium.

The only son of Ashwin Singh, a music teacher at the city's SNK School and Madhuri Singh a housewife with immense interest in classical music, Shivam is creating waves in Rajkot with his talent.

"I am a grown up now. I sing, play the tabla and also the harmonium. Thank you very much," says Shivam.

Recognising this talent, Akashvani (All India Radio) recently aired a special programme to project his artistry.

"He used to listen to us as even as a month old child when we used to practise. I feel his interest in music started from there itself. At a sub-conscious level, he had music in his system ever since then," says Ashwin, Shivam's father.

His mother maintains that it is not practically possible to teach a child at this age, and they have never made any conscious effort to do so. She says the child is a quick learner.

Often regarded as miracles of the nature, child prodigies intrigue the ordinary and tease scientists, who are keen to decode the mystery surrounding their capabilities.

"He has an excellent genetic pool to learn music. Also, he has got a very conducive environment that is congenial for his hereditary talent. His parents encourage him if he sings or plays with musical instrument. While other kids recite Baa Baa Black Sheep, he sings religious hymns," said Shruti Hemani, a child specialist.

There are numerous prodigies in India like P. Hari Krishna, the country's youngest-ever chess grandmaster; the Mysore brothers, Nagaraj and Manjunath, who gave their first violin concerts at the ages of 10 and 9 respectively.

Human calculator Shakuntala Devi was also a child prodigy as was Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), who had mastered trigonometry at the age of twelve.

Shivam appears as the next to join this long list of luminaries.

ANI