Report: Alphonse Mendonsa
Udupi, Aug 29: Mangalurean singer Nihal Tauro who reached the finals of the highly popular reality show Indian Idol, season 12 on Sony television channel and secured the 5th spot, was on Sunday August 29 felicitated by bishop of Udupi diocese Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo at the Bishop's House here amidst a sizable audience, priests, nuns and media representatives. He was also felicitated by the Catholic Sabha, ICYM and YCS Udupi units.
Prior to the ceremony, Nihal Tauro along with his parents and brother was accorded a warm welcome by bishop Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo, and spiritual director of Catholic Sabha Udupi Fr Ferdinand Braganza. The felicitation programme began with a welcome hymn by Udupi parishioners.
In his welcome address, the bishop congratulated Nihal Tauro on reaching the highest milestone in singing on the national level. Calling Nihal a role model, the bishop said, "We should follow three steps that Nihal has taken in his life to achieve this super goal. One, he has utilized the opportunities that came his way and enhanced them until he reached his goal. From childhood he practiced singing by joining the church choir and trained initially with his father Herald Tauro who is the choir master of his church, and sang all through to the national level winning several awards with his determination, dedication and sacrifices. He has also sung in Konkani and Kannada musical programmes. We must learn from him how to make the best of our talents and never give up. Though we may have some talent within us, we seldom utilize or enhance it, and we give up the moment there is a little failure here and there.
"Secondly, he has set benchmarks for himself, such that he continued to reach higher and higher goals in singing. Just because he won local competitions, he didn’t stop there, he wanted to go higher and that is what he did, and succeeded in reaching the national level singing contest and winning the 5th spot in Indian Idol. Third, his sacrifices, dedication and determination to reach his goals is exemplary. During the 10 months of Indian Idol season 12, he was in a jail-like situation. He had to practice day and night in their facility without going out. This is what we must follow. Once we have a higher goal in sight, we must go through all the hurdles and sacrifices to achieve our goals, only then will we be successful," the bishop said.
He further said, "Nihal has not stopped here. Now his next goal is to become the best playback singer at the national level. On behalf of our Catholic community I wish him all the success in future. Finally, I conclude by saying that he is a very humble and simple person. As he was coming to Udyavar for a bigger felicitation programme, I requested him to come here and immediately agreed."
Nihal thanked the bishop for his words of appreciation and said that he was very grateful for his blessings and felicitation. He also thanked each and everyone who was part of his singing journey, and expressed his gratitude to priests, nuns, and friends for their relentless support. He said he felt proud about realising everyone's dream. "As the bishop mentioned, do not wait for the opportunity to knock on your door. Opportunities come provided we are ready to grab them and work with dedication and determination," Nihal said.
Nihal entertained the audience by singing a Konkani hymn and a Hindi song.
Fr Charles Menezes, the parish priest of Mother of Sorrows Church conducted the felicitation programme.