Mumbai: Vegetable vendor sings for girl child adoption

Child artiste Aastha Jain, Bhavna Ben Patel, Ritu Pandit, Manoj Desai, Roopkumar Rathod, Leslee Lewis, Manish Wadhwa, Naishadh Desai and Kavya Jones at the Launch of O Papa dedicated to the girl child

When Surat resident Arun Kumar Nikam was not selling vegetables in his teens or early youth, he spent his time writing and crooning songs. The veggie vendor who set up a stall in Surat's vegetable market, has released a Hindi song dedicated to girl child adoption, online. The song, called ‘O Papa' was released online on October 3 and is available on YouTube.

The song

Said Nikam, 36, of his song, "I work as a vegetable seller, but my passion is writing. I have written the lyrics for several songs, and the latest is for the cause of adoption of girls. I think this is truly worthy, giving a little girl a home, and the joy of having parents, a family." Nikam said, "Statistics show that of 11 million abandoned children in India, 90 per cent are girls. When I heard this, I wanted to make a difference. This song: ‘O Papa' are my feelings in melodious form, as music has no borders."

Arun Kumar Nikam selling veggies in Surat

Some of the lyrics of the song go: ‘What is our relationship, I do not know…you called me papa and I was moved, yet bewildered…" The video features a young man, rescuing an abandoned female infant from a stationary rickshaw one monsoon night and handing her over to a home for adoption. She is now a little girl, and he visits her occasionally, sponsors her and when he arrives at the home, she runs to him and calls him: papa'.

Life story

Nikam should know about adversity and opportunities. The vendor has an extraordinary life story, with its roots in Jalgaon Maharashtra. He was born to farmers. "Though we did have the basics like a roof over our head, food, I did not have an education in Jalgaon. I was sent to my maternal grandparents' place in Surat when I was four years old. I eventually started going to school in Surat, and when I was a teenager, post school, I used to sell vegetables on the street. Greens, potatoes, onions, beans, I sold all bhaaji. Morning was for studies and afternoon, evenings it was veggie vending time," Nikam explained.

Mounds of veggies though did not bury a childhood dream: that of writing and singing. Nikam smiled as he recalled, "I balanced my week of studies and selling vegetables, with weekends dedicated to honing my writing and singing. I used to write lyrics for the songs I would sing." Nikam's classmates good-naturedly called him, ‘Sonu Nigam' and ‘Kumar Sanu'. Nikam laughed as he said, "I could not draw in those crowds, like those artistes can, but I used to have a small crowd gathered on weekends on the school's empty terrace where I would sing, give performances, feeding off the enthusiasm and applause of the compact crowd!"

Life lessons

Not academically inclined and determined to make it in the music world, the vendor started making trips from Surat to Mumbai, "from a very young age, early teens in fact, I used to bring vegetables to the city to sell them. I then started meeting some persons associated with the music industry." He got a break online just five years ago. "He had a debut project, ‘Waah Teri Bewafai,' after which came a project called, ‘Kaise Miloon Main...?' and ‘Dil Se Hai Salaam.' The vegetable seller from Surat had truly found his ‘voice' and a small audience.

Nikam stated, "I may not have had formal education, but my classroom was life. I learnt through the trade on the streets, I saw different people, I saw the psychology, dreams, desires and even despair. I poured that into my songs. I felt the pulse of the people, from the desperation of a star struck fan to saluting warriors in COVID-19, I stuck to topics that resonated with people."

The message

His latest song, O Papa," released online by his company called ‘Any choice Films' Nikam said, ", "is a testament to believing in yourself and not giving up. My path from a vegetable vendor to a singer-writer and advocate for girl child adoption is proof that perseverance can lead to positive change, no matter your beginning."

Talking about beginnings, Nikam insisted he stays true to where it all started for him, "selling vegetables in Surat," he said with a smile. "Though I am financially stable now, I still sell veggies, often loading them in a truck from Surat, and me arriving in a train to Mumbai, picking them up and going to my loyal customers' homes to deliver them in this city. These are the persons who know my life's trajectory, they still order veggies from me."

The writer states philosophically, "The humble okra, aubergine, the once pricey tomato and staples like onions and potatoes keep me grounded. There is a lesson there too, sprout wings and fly high but never forget the runway or where you had taken off from."