From bird chirping to thundering, Ganderbal’s mimicry genius can imitate over 1400 sounds
Ganderbal, Feb 4: What started as discovery of a talent, when he was in grade 3 in school, eventually saw a child prodigy develop the art of imitating different sounds. From picking up the knack of imitating sounds, a resident of Wussan in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal, Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Raina, over the years has achieved an accomplishment of imitating as many as 1400 different sounds.
Popularly known as “Kohinoor” among his friends and family, Raina’s creativity knows no bounds. You name it and in the blink of an eye, Raina will astonishingly deliver the sound. This includes sounds of birds, animals, insects, machines, instruments and musical tunes using his nose, throat and fingers.
"I have been imitating sounds since childhood days and perfected them by rehearsing for hours," Raina told Greater Kashmir. Raina works at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences ( SKIMS), Soura where his popularity is the same as the limelight he shares in his hometown.
Raina recollects early days, when hours of practicing sounds in isolation would worry his parents. “As a kid I would sit in my room and rehearse for hours. My family used to get worried as I confined myself to my room most of the time. They thought I had lost my mind. It was really difficult to make them understand that I am all right,” says Raina. .
With his extraordinary art of imitating sounds, Raina has earned huge recognition after his name entered the Asia Book of Records few years back.He has won accolades all over the state as well as on national level with different organisation appreciating and acknowledging his talent.
Imitation used in films to make day-to-day sounds known as the art of Foley is something Raina keenly follows. He is a huge fan of Bollywood as well.
“At an annual day function at my school the Principal, who had recognised my talent, asked me to participate in the event. At that point in time, I was imitating only 103 sounds, However, I got a huge response and appreciation" Raina said, adding that he has been keenly watching the Discovery channel and surfing the internet to be aware of more birds, animals, insects and machines. “At present, I can imitate 1400 different sounds," he said. He further said that his joy knew no bounds when his name entered the Asia Book of Records. Earlier my name was listed in the India Book of Records for being the most talented mimicry artist. " This is a big achievement for me but my dream is to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records " he added.
"I have performed on local as well as National channels,” Raina said, adding that his biggest desire is to work in Bollywood. His childhood friends say that apart from being a most talented mimicry artist he also is good at acting. “Apart from a talented mimicry artist he is a fine actor as well, adding that no function is complete without his participation" one of his friends said. He said that he has achieved yet another remarkable milestone by securing the first rank in the Rising Legends Talent Hunt Championship 2025, a prestigious online competition that brought together talented participants from across the globe.