india

Updated: Jul 04, 2020 10:29 IST

Teenage singing prodigy Sparsh Shah will be one of the nearly 400 artists to perform during the mega “Howdy, Modi!” diaspora outreach programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in US’ Houston on September 22.

The 16-year-old Sparsh Shah will sing Jana, Gana, Mana, the Indian national anthem, in front of 50,000 people at the NRG Stadium in Texas’ Houston, which has one of the largest concentration of more than 150,000 Indian-American community in the United States.

“I am honored & humbled to be invited to sing the Indian National Anthem at a Community Summit in honor of the Prime Minister of India, Shri @narendramodi; in the presence of the President of USA, Mr @realdonaldtrump & 50,000 audience members in Houston, TX+Billions watching live!” Sparsh Shah had tweeted on Monday.

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“Special thanks to the Texas India Forum and Mela Productions for bestowing this honor! I am proud to represent Voice of Specially Abled People at this prestigious event,” Shah also said on his Facebook page.

The New Jersey resident will be a part of the special cultural programme to reflect the US-India cultural ties at the ‘Howdy, Modi! Shared Dreams, Bright Futures’ community event. The 90-minute programme, “Woven: The Indian-American Story”, will have a music, dance and multimedia show.

The Class 11 student, who is a singer, songwriter, rapper and inspirational speaker, was born with an incurable disease Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as the brittle bone disorder.

His Facebook page says Shah cannot walk or run because he is unable to bear weight on his hands and legs. It said even a hard handshake can break his bones and that he has had more than 135 fractures and multiple rod surgeries.

Sparsh Shah, who is also known as “Purhythm” has been training in Indian classical music for the last nine years and American vocal music for more than five years. He has won prizes in seven music competitions. including “Young Voice of NYC.

Ranked as one of the Top 10 Indian origin child prodigies by Yahoo last year, Shah has appeared on several radio and television programmes, including Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire).

The singer is the Youth Ambassador for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Voice of Specially Abled People (VOSAP), Mission Possible-Never Start.