Abu Dhabi: Hiralal Sangar belts out a Gujarati folk song describing a maiden who gracefully carries a pot of water on her head, and the melody is evident in his voice even without any accompanying instruments.
Except for his shy mannerisms, one would not be able to guess that Sangar’s day job is a far cry from his passion. Although he is an excellent singer, the 36-year-old from India is a cook at the Indian By Nature restaurant in the capital.
His talent was recently discovered by the restaurant owner, and a short clip of Sangar humming a tune earned the cook a place at the New York University Abu Dhabi’s (NYUAD) programme to celebrate culture and heritage, entitled Hekayah.
The evening event planned for December 5 will see a line-up of 12 performances delivered by 20 locally based artists, all in a bid to honour the UAE’s National Day. Sangar’s four-song performance will be accompanied by a group of four Indian musicians, while other acts include spoken word poetry and musicians.
“One of our goals for Hekayah, especially just before the beginning of the Year of Zayed, is to tell the story of the UAE in all its diversity, and celebrate culture and heritage. Sangar is among our highest rated artists for this event. And his story points to the fact that there are so many talented artists among us who are here working in other fields,” said Bill Bragin, executive artistic director at the NYUAD’s Arts Centre.
The other performers are Emirati saxophonist Mohammad Morshed, Palestinian-Canadian poet Sara Al Souqi, and Sudanese spoken word poet Jaysus Zain.
Sangar, who hails from the Mandvi village in the western Indian state of Gujarat, is himself terribly excited about the chance to represent his culture in the UAE, and to present two of his favourite devotional songs to the audience.
“I’ve been singing with my father since I turned eight. Although he was a farmer by profession, we would travel from place to place to perform, and contribute any funds we collected to social service,” Sangar remembers. For instance, the money was often used to buy food and clothing for the poor, or to build temples and tend to cattle in the agriculture-driven village.
Sangar was only able to continue his education till Grade 5, and grew up to run a small business in India. A little more than a year ago, the father of three moved to the UAE in search of better prospects. And although he has been caught up with preparing food for the restaurant’s customers, he says he practises his singing often.
