Little WONDERS

Four,five,six and seven – the little big voices of Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs fall in a class-wise order as they sit for a video conferencing today right from Zee studios. They might look young,but all four are child prodigies with enviable list of talent in them. We begin with the youngest,and one of the most gifted of all,Swarit Shukl,a student of Class 4 of Gyanindo School Indore. He is as of now missing his school ‘paneer ki sabzi’. “I’ve no training in music…I learnt it listening to songs on TV and now on the iPod,” he connects. On the other hand,Yatharth Ratnum of Class VII is not very happy for he has missed his exams due to the competition. “But on the bright side,I have learnt a lot about music through this channel,” says this lad from Benares who loves cricket and basketball and plays the guitar. In fact he’s participated for the second time in the show! Assamese by birth,Antara Nandy is at present settled in Kolkata with her parents. And there’s somethign else that’s extraordinary about this Class V topper of Delhi Public High School – apart from dancing and reading detective novels,Antara’s formed her own band and they all compose their own music and lyrics! Meanwhile,wild card entry Prateeksha Srivastav,a student of Class 6 of Gurukul Academy,Lucknow has music in her blodd for her father runs a music school and has been her guiding force in Saregamapa. A gifted tabla player,Prateeksha’s honed another art form – kathak. “But classical singing is my forte,” says the ‘sweetest voice’ of all.