Very few can hold on to their talent and passion as dearly and as long as this 19-year-old who has balanced academics and singing with finesse. Nikunjika Kamra, earlier referred to as Baby Nikunj, is widely known in parts of North India for her divine voice, that makes hundreds of devotees sway to bhajans and dance with abandon.
Currently a second-year student of Journalism and Mass Communication at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, she started singing professionally at the tender age of six, performing at numerous bhajan samaarohs and satsangs in Delhi, Rajasthan,Varanasi andMathura.
Nikunjika has been frequently featured in singing programmes on TV channels like Aastha and Sanskaar. Surprisingly, she does not accept monetary payments for it. ”Music is my passion, and I am spiritually inclined towards Lord Krishna. I simply want to serve people in his name,” she explains with a smile.
Upon the request of her neighbours, she has now been holding music classes for about a year and earns around `5,000 a month from it. “I don’t need money as such, but the parents of the kids I train insist that I take fees,” she says, with a hint of annoyance in her eyes.
Not only does she sing well, Nikunjika also secures high ranks in class. She is the general secretary of Alaap, the Indian Music Society of her college. Her mother is a homemaker and father, a businessman, both of them being supportive and encouraging. When asked what she wants to become after a few years, pat comes the reply, “I want to be a media professional. I can reach out to so many people that way. Most probably I will become a writer or a radio host.”
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