Follow your dreams, find your
destiny
When I asked one of my children what he wants to be in
future, he replied, "I want to be like Pratap Das."
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| Pratap Das |
What is there in this man? I thought to myself. I knew him
just eight months ago when he was participating in Nepali Tara Season 3. I used to live with my grade ten children
then. They were preparing for their SLC examination. Though they had their
exams, they were so excited about the day when Pratap would be on TV singing
and they would wait for him just to talk to him after he would return. It was
the first time that anyone from their village and importantly from their school
had reached that platform. I didn't have much knowledge about him or his life.
After the results of SLC, I saw him giving small gifts to
all of them for their love that they had showered him even during their most
important exam. That was one point where I thought of knowing more about him. Then
I noticed that all the times I have seen him, he always has that smile on his
face that hides his entire struggle, which he has shared with me recently.
Eight months ago, Pratap Das was just a common name. No one
knew him, except for some of his friends who would force him to sing a song for
them or for some couples who would invite him with his band and horns for their
revelry. Now, Pratap is a name which people take with praise and see him as one
of the rising stars in Nepali music industry. Most of the people know only the
present Pratap but the journey that he has walked on just to find a right
platform for him is inspiring and worth sharing.
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| National daily features him as a rising star |
Yes, being born around the musical environment, Pratap was
already into music even before he actually knew what he really wanted to be in
his life. He remembers it was in his school when he was in grade five; he first
stepped on the stage to sing. Much supported by the appraisals of his principal,
Rameshwor Deshar, he started singing in the functions of school.
When most of the people face problem in their home to be a
singer, Pratap was an exception who was lucky to get a musical environment at
home and support in school, then the question arises what led him hide his
singing talents?
The answer is simple but yet complex at the same time. He
was from the family involved in music but not from the prominent singers. Music
was their source of living. They would do it all for the money. His family
business was to play band horns in the revelry. His father used to play
clarinet and he used to join him with euphonium. "I remember going double
shifts to play the band horns in marriage ceremonies even while I was at
school. I left so many classes due to that. It was so important for our
survival," shares Pratap.
After his school, realizing his interest he thought to
choose music as his higher studies. That went in vain when he reached his first
day at Lalit Kala Campus and felt music was just the name there, so many
political agendas had to be taken care of there rather then just learning
music. With despair, he quits the college. Then joins, Kalanidhi Indira Sangeet Mahabidhlaya. With a
wide grin in his face, he shares there I found my real inspiration, my guru Dhan
Bahadur Gopali and from then onwards he has been learning music there and now
is in his fourth year.
His desire to learn more on music and grow on music led him
to participate in Kalanidhi Sangeet Idol,
which he won. The victory gave him some more confidence and he thought of competing
in the national level singing competing, Nepali Tara Season 3.
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| Pratap singing along with the his juniors at his school's function |
But this journey wasn't also an easy one. He was going
through a lot of financial crisis and the result of that was he had to quit his
study in the first year of his bachelors
level which he was doing hand on hand with music. He shares, "Nobody
understood my pain that I had to work so much just to earn some money. It was a
very hard decision for me to take whether to choose study or to continue music
at that moment. In the mean time, I saw
a quote, follow your dreams, find your destiny on a copy and I chose to continue
music and quit my study then, which I have decided to continue again now."
Also 'Nepali Tara' wasn't the first platform he went for, he
gave audition for several other singing competition and was rejected. He remembers that he wasn't confident even
after the selection in his earlier rounds. Eventually his confidence started to
boost up and he treasures the moment when he had sang the song of Rajan Ishan humbly
improvising in his own way and was praised by his mentor James Pradhan. This
inspiration worked and he was there till top 5. Though he couldn't win the
title, he is happy that he is now receiving other singing opportunities which
he may not have had if he hadn't participated there.
He happily shares, "I have closed all other ways in my
life. Music is the only way I want to walk on and I will be walking till the
end."
My last question for him was. There are so many children who
has seen him singing in that stage and want to be like him what suggestion
would he give for them. He answered, "It all depends on the environment. The
parents should create the environment, which is very rare. A child may try to
create it but he will be successful only when their parents support them. We
must let the child follow his dreams and find his destiny."
I wish Pratap a very melodious career and a successful life
ahead.
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