Vijay Kumar

Multi-talented Vijay Kumar belongs to Ramnagar in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh. He does not come from a family of musicians, though his mother and father were both very fond of singing and had melodious voices. Vijay Kumar believes his talent to be God-gifted and his parents encouraged him to take up music and performing arts at a very young age.

In addition to singing, he can play Dholak, Harmonium, Tabla, Flute and is even trained in Kathak. He learnt each of those instruments from different teachers and despite so many years of learning, he feels unfulfilled and hopes to learn more instruments and new music forms. He says that music is a vast, infinite ocean and the deeper one dives into, the more there is left to learn. The one quality which has helped him master so many arts is of restlessness, which he calls fakiri – to not settle and not feel content or satisfied.

He attended and learned for a while Prayag Sangeet Samiti and has received a certificate from Rashtriya Kathak Sansthan in Lucknow. Aside from music and performing, he also writes poems and songs under the pen name “Anjaana”. He writes in his native language of Awadhi, and also in Hindi, Urdu and Bhojpuri. He uses a great deal of Farsi and Arabic vocabulary in his writings, taking inspiration from famous literary figures like Prem Chand who wrote about the common folk but used a highly literary language to narrate their stories. He writes on religious and social issues. The rest of his family, his wife and children, also share his passion for music and dance and they have all learnt it even if they aren’t professionally pursuing it.

• Purvanchal
• Uttar Pradesh