The quotation ‘Being visually impaired, I have a clear vision of what I want to be, unaffected by the visible chaos in the world’ stands apt for 16-year old visually impaired orphan girl Tumpa Gupta, a class VIII student of Brajkishore Netraheen Balika Vidyalaya. She recently got a singing offer from Bollywood musician Ravindra Jain and she also grabbed singer Shreya Ghoshal’s attention after PGDHRM students of XISS uploaded her singing video on social media.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Thursday came forward to boost the aspirations of the girl who urged him to support her dreams by providing a harmonium and assist in continuing her vocal training. “We would provide all possible support to Tumpa in chasing her passion,” said the CM.Das was mesmerized after listening her song ‘Ae Mere Watan ke logo’ originally sung by veteran singer lata Mangeshkar. “I feel happy for the talented girl,” he said.
Tumpa, the youngest of four sisters was brought to the free residential school for blind girls at Bargain, around 8 kilometres far from Bariatu, in 2014 by her married elder sister Meenu Singh, now settled in Odisha. Years back she lost her parents in Sindri. “Chief Minister’s appreciation touched me. He is very much concerned for my training. I cannot believe Shreya Ghoshal wants to meet me,” said Tumpa.
She aspires to continue her education and become like lata Mangeshkar. Sharing her other interests, Meenu said she wants to sing in front of PM Narendra Modi. “With the grace of God, Tumpa grabbed media attention and then bollywood personalities. I enrolled her here to grow with girls like her and become a primary school music teacher. But, she has more potential than expected. I want her to be known worldwide,” the elder sister maintained.
For her friends and teachers, she is charming by her voice, behaivour and intellect. “We admitted her in Class 2 where she learned Braille writing and reading. Observing her sharp mind, we promoted her to secondary wing. She is always curious to raise questions during class hours. One day I was teaching about clouds. She immediately asked Badal kaise phat-ta hain (How does a cloud burstIJ),” said the Geography teacher Mangala Prasad.
Meanwhile, her senior Sarita Kumari in Class X said she is a friendly as well as well-mannered girl. “Most among the 36 girls of our school are good singers. We also want to get a platform like Tumpa,” said Sarita’s batchmate Pushpa.Besides, Tumpa and her sister, Das interacted with some of the other girls. “If there is any problem, you can tell me without hesitation,” he asked the girls.
The special school established in 1986 is run by PP Verma and his wife Neelu Verma, the founder trustees of the school. “like Tumpa, most of the girls of our school are gifted with talent. Monica Kumari is a good painter and has been felicitated by the Governor and several social organizations. 12 girls have received four-month training at the Call Centre operated by Vodafone exclusively for the blind in Pune. They even earned Rs 2000-4000 for their customer handling attitude,” said Neelu Verma.
The trustees are mulling to start a Call Centre within the school with Technical Training Institute and Vodafone, operated by blind children. They requested the CM to grant some funds for the functioning. He assured to look into the matter.
Post-CM’s visit, Tumpa was requested to sing more songs by the locals and journalists. She sang, ‘Mere Yaara Tere Gum’ from the musical movie Aashiqui 2 followed by Zoobi-Doobi of 3 Idiots and Singer KK’s Hum rahe ya na rahe yaad aayenge ye pal which instilled silence among the listeners.