The making of an Indian English singer

At the age of 16, Sharina Ahmed has big dreams. The teenager from Bodh Gaya, Bihar sees herself as an English singer on the global stage; People and the media in her hometown couldn’t agree more.

Over the past few months, she has been at a high level with performance offers from event management companies within the country and in Germany, the Netherlands and Dubai. His fan base is slowly increasing. She has put out over 100 cover songs on YouTube and has been followed by music lovers from Dubai, Nigeria, Vietnam, Philippines, USA and UK with praises, suggestions and comments.

Barely three years ago, Sharina developed a desire to learn and speak English with an American accent. “I come from Charki, a small village where people hardly know English and we don’t even find good English teachers; Although Bodh Gaya is a popular international tourist hub,” she says.

As a child, Sharina was praised for having a melodious voice and developed a passion for learning to sing English songs. A typical Gen Z kid fed up by the internet and social media, Sharina decided to use this to her advantage. During the COVID-19 scare and two years of lockdown, Sharina trained herself with the help of three things – a full-length mirror in her room, karaoke and her mobile phone to download videos and google all the relevant information. For.

“I was under no pressure as the class X board exams were canceled and my focus was on discovering the most popular English singers and their compositions, translating the song to understand the meaning and having good rhythm, correct pronunciation and pauses. I had to practice vocals. ,” shares Sharina, who has now moved to Delhi with her father for better exposure and opportunities.

For four months, Sharina shut herself off from the world and sang 24×7 with her favorite Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Serena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga and many more. Sharina, who is studying Class XII through online classes, says, “All I knew was that I had to take my singing to 10.

When she put on the first cover of Justin Bieber’s Baby, she was told she was no good. “I believe in myself and keep my inspiration going by reading how many famous musicians struggled and failed before they hit the headlines,” she says.

Soon, in November last year, he got an opportunity when he was invited to perform in front of an international audience at Bodh Gaya’s biggest water park for tourists. “It was supposed to be a two-hour show, but I sang for five hours as the demand for popular songs kept coming. People wanted my autograph and took selfies with me and the organizers had to throw a ring of bouncers around me,” Sharina recalls that evening which still gives her goosebumps.

Since then, she has been attended by the Jharkhand Speaker, ex-CM and Deputy CM, MPs and MLAs from Bihar, who have given their certificates of appreciation to the ‘Gaya Ki Beti’.

Sharina’s vocals amaze you, but she has a long way to go and she understands it very well. To get the right break in the international circuit, they not only need money but also the right studio and own album. Right now his social media friend Nandita, who is a lyricist, is writing songs on women empowerment for him. Sharina hopes to recover from this in a month or so. Going with a global event manager may help but their contractual terms are strict and too many, which they need to understand. She is also looking forward to meeting with Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy, as she looks forward to contributing to the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

Sharina has also trained herself to sing one Chinese, six Spanish, three Korean, two Japanese and Turkish songs. The confident singer says, “I can catch the tone of any song within two hours and after that, it’s only practiced to dexterity and perfection, which she regrets not having a teacher who teaches her. Inspire you to make dreams come true.