The lullabies that Sabira Ibrahim once sang to her granddaughter Nimisha Salim were something special to her family as they came from the heart of a daughter who had seen her father — M.S. Baburaj — go through various trials and tribulations. The same affectionate songs are now favourites with Nimisha Salim, who is in class IX and a budding singer.
Sitting in the living room of her house near Kondotty, she said, “Mummy (Sabira) has influenced us a lot. Most of the time she sings the favourite melodies of her uppa and hearing these we started to learn the songs from childhood onwards. Now one of my favourite hobbies is to hear those songs.”
Nimisha has taken singing seriously. She has already sung in the shows of Stephen Devassy and Naresh Iyer. “It was a great experience. Moreover, there is a lot of team work in such performances and we learn much more about how to perform during stage shows,” says the 14-year-old, who is studying in Calicut Airport Higher Secondary School. For Nimisha, it was a great challenge to sing fast numbers as she was training in Hindustani classical music. “For the past one year, I have been learning Hindustani music. Now, I am really addicted to it. Hindustani music gives me more creative space to improvise and try new ways, apart from the set norms. Moreover there is an influence of the songs, I have been hearing from my childhood,” she said hinting at her great grandfather’s evergreen melodies.
Though she started to learn Hindustani music one year ago, Nimisha has been singing in several programmes for many years. She is a regular singer at the Baburaj commemoration function held in Kozhikode. However, her most memorable singing experience was when she sang in a remembrance function for Peter, a long time friend of Baburaj. “Hearing my song, S. Janaki came to the stage and hugged me. Her eyes were full of tears and it was so emotional. Almost everyone was in a nostalgic mood after hearing that song,” she reminisced.
A diehard fan of ghazals, Nimisha has also performed in Kozhikode, where she sang ghazals continuously for two-and-half-hours. However, she is least interested in taking part in any reality shows. “Let her learn the music first. Competition is something that comes later,” said her father, Salim. Her brother, Lezin Salim, who is studying in the third standard also has a proclivity to music. “He started performing at school. Though he has not started to learn music, he plays the drums beautifully,” says Salim.
