Talent in the West Indies / Caribbean Community has often been overlooked but that is about to change with the rise of artists such as Ben Parag. He is quickly becoming a household name thanks to the Indian Hit Reality Singing Television Show Dil Hai Hindustani.

The show which recently premiered has taken the airwaves by storm and features up and coming singers and is similar to the popular American Idol where contestants audition before a panel of celebrity judges with a chance to sign a record label and headline their own show.
The judges include renowed Director/Producer /Actor Karan Johar, Musician /Rapper Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia popularly called Badshah ,Singer /Composer Shekhar Ravjiani and Playback Singer Shalmali Kholgade .

So you might be wondering what this has to do with Ben Parag and the Guyanese public. Ben Parag fondly called Benny is the son of Guyanese Kumar and Savi Parag and he has auditioned for the show in India and instantly became a favourite of the judges after mesmerizing them with his melodious voice.

Ben’s performance earned him a standing ovation from the judges with Karan Johar even commenting he sang “better than the original singer” noting that while he is American and speaks hindi his “connection to his country of origin” Guyana is the real reason for his amazing ability . He performed the song Mitwa from the movie Khabi Alveh Naa KehNa starring Shar Rukh Khan , Rani Mukherjee, Priety Zinta and Abisheik Bachan and Amitabh Bachan.

Benn’s parents Kumar and Savi were both from Mibicuri Black Bush Polder in East Berbice Corentyne before migrating to the Queens Borough of New York City several years ago. Even though he was born in the United States Ben say he tries to visit Guyana shores every 6 months. The 19 year old who hails from a family of singers started singing at the age of 6 and has grown from strength the strength having secured the services of two musical Gurus from the early age of 10. The gurus according to Ben provides guidance and inspiration to help hone his singing ability to realise his true potential.

A fluent speaker of Hindi, Benny’s journey to stardom began when his family ,friends, relatives and acquaintances saw the ad for the Dil Hai Hindustani Show and they all encouraged him to fill an application and try out for the show. Benny packed his bags and took the trip to India, becoming the first person from his family to ever take set foot on Indian soil after his fore parents left the shores of India for Guyana to work as indentured labourers on the sugar plantation many years ago.

His parents Kumar and Savi said Ben has always had a love for music growing up and has a passion for Classical Indian music but is very versatile and can sing any genre of music. Ben’s entrance to the stage was very nervous and the judges recognized it instantly however as he sung the first note of his song the judges were left with their mouths open. At the end of his amazing performance he was hoisted by one of the judges and paraded around the stage in appreciation of his superb performance. As the judges keep pouring accolades and the chanting of the crowd kept getting louder the humble young man was moved to tears.

His performance earned him a Golden Record which automatically qualifies him for the next round. The video of his audition was shared on social media thousand of times within the past week and his fan base has immediately sprung up with many saying they were moved to tears by his performance. The Show airs in Star Plus on Saturday and Sundays at 8 PM and everyone is asked to tune in to support this son of the soil.