A blind pianist from Nagaland says music is ‘one thing that has kept me alive’

KOHIMA, India (AP) — Takosangba Pongen had his imaginative and prescient for 14 years. He has been blind for the previous 13. However in entrance of a piano, no person can inform.

“Enjoying the piano transports me to a different dimension. After dropping my imaginative and prescient, music has been one factor that has stored me alive. It opened a window to see the world. It offers me vitality and hope to go ahead,” he stated.

On Sunday evening, he carried out for a crowd on the Brillante Piano Pageant in Bengaluru, the capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Pongen, 27, performs by ear. He’s self taught, with assist from YouTube tutorials that he started in 2020. He stated he wish to be knowledgeable musician sometime however that discovering an institute that teaches the visually impaired has been a problem.

He first observed issues together with his sight when he couldn’t learn what his schoolteacher was writing on the blackboard. Then he recollects having problem seeing small glass marbles as he performed together with his siblings. Surgical procedure made the issue worse. By 14, he was blind.

“I generally want I may see. However in any case these years, I’ve accepted my destiny as God’s plan for me. He needs to make use of me as a device to encourage and encourage others. If a blind man can do it, why can’t others who’re totally in a position?” he stated.

Brillante originated within the small mountain city of Kohima, within the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, not removed from the place Pongen now research. Pageant organizers stated they “imagine within the transformative energy of music as an agent of social improvement.” Pongen is part of their “Specifically Abled Musicians” program.

He performed Nocturne in B Flat Minor by the nineteenth century composer Frederic Chopin. It’s a piece impressed by the evening. Pongen stated Chopin is his favourite classical composer and that he additionally hopes to play fashionable and fusion jazz sometime.

“I like music that’s expressive and emotional,” he stated.

Pongen had travelled greater than 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) to Bengaluru together with his white cane and sister by his aspect to play on the fifth version of Brillante. His coronary heart was racing, he stated, when the competition’s director, Khyochano TCK, launched him to the opposite musicians.

The nervousness crept again when his time to carry out arrived. He took a deep breath and reassured himself. Then his sister Imlibenla gently guided him onto the stage and seated him in entrance of a grand piano. From there, he soared.