This 4-yr-old girl plays 8 instruments

Agra: She can play twice as many instruments as the candles on her birthday cake, pronounces Sanskrit words flawlessly and has the voice to become a singing sensation. Meet Aarohi Agrawal of Mathura, all of four years old and already a tabla, harmonium, keyboards and bongo prodigy. On Sunday, Avantika Foundation, a senior citizens’ group, awarded Aarohi the Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Samman 2016 for her talent in music. She was the youngest among the 108 awardees at the event. Sanjay Agarwal, a member of the organisation, said, “Aarohi is extremely talented. I visited Mathura and spent two hours at her residence listening to her playing, and I was astonished”. Besides playing eight instruments with ease, Aarohi sings the National Anthem and devotional songs movingly, reflecting her musical inheritance. Her grandfather, Dr Rajendra Krishna, is a renowned musician who runs a music school in Mathura. Avantika Foundation chose 108 people from all walks of life, out of 600 names on its longlist. Agarwal said the organisation aims to promote and motivate talented people. “We awarded her grandfather to motivate him to further help Aarohi, but if he does not do so, we will take back his award.” BJP’s national vice president Purushottam Rupala was the chief guest at the function and presented the awards.