Audiences cry 'hear, hear' for Amdavadi musician with no ears

AHMEDABAD: A musician born in

Bonn

wrote about his deafness for the first time when he was 30. He revealed that in the encroaching silence, his inner voice told him loudly to kill himself. "Only my art, that is all that held me back," he said. Niraj Mehta, a musician born in Ahmedabad, was deaf at birth. And there is no holding Mehta back. He is only 23 now but like the musician from Bonn - Ludwig van Beethoven - Mehta is going places at a young age.


Mehta, who was born without external ears, has been selected to perform in Poland at 'Beats of

Cochlea

', an international festival for musicians with hearing implants. He will be India's sole representative at the festival that begins in Warsaw in the second week of July.

While growing up, Mehta - grappling with 75% hearing loss - used lip movements of people as visual cues to construct meaning. He could hear only extremely loud voices. While Mehta inherited his father's passion to listen to music and would hum songs, he took up music formally only two years ago. "I would sing while strumming the guitar but could not achieve harmony between my playing and singing," Mehta said.

The life-changing moment for Mehta came this February when he underwent a

bone conduction

surgery, a procedure in which an implant is used to fire up the cochlea by conducting sound waves through skull bones. Finally, he could hear.

Mehta could not hear his own voice

Until I underwent the surgery, I could not hear my own voice. Now, I can play the guitar as well as sing,” said Mehta. His condition is called microtia, a congenital defect because of which external ears are underdeveloped. At school, some heartless classmates mocked his deformity. “I used to feel low at school, but later realized that people will show respect if you are successful,” he said. “If you are passionate about your pursuits, success always comes to you.” Mehta now pursues a postgraduate course in international business at Brunel University of London. He hopes his education will help him contribute to his father's garment business. “But perhaps music may shape my career,” Mehta mused. His ability to listen to his instincts has served him well. “My life has changed completely. My dream to study in London has come true,” he said. “ I did not expect to win a place at ‘Beats of Cochlea’. Till date, no one else from India has been selected for the festival.” Mehta himself searched for a doctor who could help him. Dr Rajesh Vishwakarma was ready to lend his ears to Mehta’s aspirations.