Life on a high note

[1]

He ruled the stage and held the audience spellbound. And even when he neared the end of his performance, his fans kept asking more. Such is the charm of Toshanbor Nongbet, the fourth runner-up in the recently concluded reality show India’s Got Talent —Season 4.

On his maiden visit to Delhi to perform for Indian Council for Relations, the 22-year-old singer said he is still finding it hard to believe he has so many fans.
It was an eventful journey from being a ‘bathroom singer to an opera singer’ confesses Toshanbor. “As a family, we all were bought up listening to Western music, and all my uncles were into music. As a child, my family would tell me to shut up when I would sing. I did not have a particular talent or any special training to hone my skills. All that was different about me was the fact that I would try and imitate Italian singers. It was much later that I discovered my real talent,” says Toshanbor, who ventured into the world of opera after listening to maestros like Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and others.
“I would listen to Italian opera singers and copy them,” says Toshanbor. It was much later that he got a formal training at choir Aroha in Shillong and he credits his success to his conductor Pauline Warjri.
“When I was 19 years old, a friend suggested that I join this choir. But when I went for my test, I proved to be a complete disaster. Pauline said that I was like a wild horse with a lot of energy but no control,” remembers Toshanbor. “For the first few days, I would just stand there listening to other singers. My training started much later,” he adds.
Since then, there was no stopping. India’s Got Talent was his perfect break to start a career in music. “My dream was to make opera singing more popular, and India’s Got Talent was the right platform. The only difficulty I faced was mixing Bollywood with high-pitched opera songs. I was asked to come up with fusions to make my performances relevant to the show’s format. And since I don’t know much of Hindi, I faced problems there,” he says.
Toshanbor was grateful for the appreciation he got, and recalls, “Imagine the judges including Karan Johar, Farah Khan, Kirron Kher and the guest judge Preity Zinta were crying! Nothing can speak more than this.”
Though he did not emerge the winner, the singer does not have any regrets. “The recognition I got was enough for me. It has just been over a month that the show got over, and since then, I am continuously performing in various cities. I am happy that people discovered the talent we have back home in Meghalaya.”
Talking about his future plans, Toshanbor says he just wants to improve in the coming years. “Many feel that I have become perfect in my singing, but I know I am not perfect as yet. I plan to achieve perfection now. Meanwhile, I will continue enjoying singing and performing for the audience,” he ends.