A mimicry artiste gains greatly by listening keenly to his or her surroundings. For V. Abhishek, however, listening was the only choice, visually impaired as he was.
But the impairment only urged Abhishek to listen astutely, ultimately rendering his mimicry skills razor-sharp. At the State School Arts Festival on Friday, the Kasaragod GHSS student went on to not only win ‘A’ grade but also move the audience with an endearing performance.
On the stage, his act centred around the sound of a child that at first bears the charm of being innocently attentive to nature and then soaks up the sounds and visuals of television and later of mobile phone as it grows up.
The highlight of the performance was that he kept his concepts lucid and did not try to layer it up much. He had probably learnt from his previous State school festival experience, when he managed to score only ‘B’ grade. “I was very nervous then, as it was for the first time that I was participating in such a mega event,” he says.
But the event this year, in his own district, boosted his confidence, he adds. At the end of his performance, the audience was all praise for him. His mother G. Radha was in tears. “He has always showed interest towards mimicking others and never shied away when someone asked him to perform,” she says.
“Since I was born visually impaired, sound attracted me. To imitate it came naturally,” he says. Till Class VII, he went to a special school for blind and used to be a regular in mimicry contests. It is only after joining the Kasaragod GHSS that he learnt to hone his mimicry skills, thanks to the guidance and encouragement of his teacher T.V. Narayanan.
“I am not here to compete with anyone, but it is just a platform for me to tell that each one is different and has talents,” Abhishek adds.
