Srinagar, October 25
For the past three-and-a-half months, Qazi Tauqeer’s family members at their tiny house in Koolipora locality of Khanyar here have been watching him on their television set, like many others across the
country, since he entered the Fame Gurukul contest.
His brother Tauseef, who was among those present during the final competition in
Mumbai, returned on Sunday. His parents, Mushtaq and Syeda Rukhsana,continue to be in touch with their son.
Tauqeer’s uncle, Qazi Rafi, a professional singer,and grandparents, Qazi Khaleel and his wife, are all hopeful of his scaling “new heights”. They do not miss their 20-year-old child, who had just joined ,at the undergraduate level, Amar Singh College here before joining the competition.
However, when he is completes the one-year contract with the TV channel, the family is keen that he continues with his studies.
"Being a professional, I have not taught him on a scheduled basis,” said Qazi Rafi. Tauqeer’s uncle recalls his nephew’s interest in music and dance with fondness. Rafi’s mother, who retired as a teacher in a government school, was a vocalist .
She would sometimes encourage the little boy when he hummed to himself. “We found it in him”, says Qazi Rafi referring to the lad’s fondness for singing. “As a little boy, whenever he murmured some tunes while going to the bathroom, I would correct him and give suggestions”, he said , adding that Tauqeer had had no formal coaching.
Except for casual participation in musical programmes with his uncle in the Youth Services and Sports Department of the Jammu and Kashmir Government, Tauqeer has had no other exposure.
Said 85-year-old grandfather, Qazi Khaleel: “Once I was disappointed when I did not find him trying to go for a similar competition — Indian Idol.”
The octogenarian recalls how a tourist couple from Canada had “predicted” that Tauqeer would become an actor when he was only two.
Having spent and learnt a lot during the competition by repeatedly returning from “danger zone”, Qazi Tauqeer “needs to learn classical singing”, feels his uncle Rafi.
