Her father came to Srinagar as a tourist but could not go back. Before he passed away, he told his daughter to teach the people she knows the best, the dancing, reports Saima Rashid

Parul was only five when her teachers saw a ‘star of tomorrow’ in her. In an annual school function, her dance performance left the audience stunned. When she turned 14, her poetry started getting telecast on a website that had a global audience. So, before coming out of school, she had already made a good image in the world of creativity.

Parul Kapoor, now 28, has a hybrid identity. She was brought up in Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh.Kashmir was her holiday destination; she did half of her schooling in Delhi and rest of her studies in Punjab.

But when she participated in “Ms Punjab” contest 2010, she introduced herself as a Kashmiri competitor.

“I still remember the loud clapping of the audience when announcer read out my name because Kashmir’s participation is always appreciated,” Parul said.“And then you get a special attention from everyone. I would get a lot of encouragement from the Jury.”

In 1990, Parul’s father had landed in Valley as a tourist but Kashmir’s beauty fascinated him so much that he never returned to his homeland. He passed away a few years back and even his last rites were performed in Srinagar.

Now his daughter is a name in the fashion world and runs a dancing cum acting cum singing academy in Srinagar.

“During my holidays in Kashmir, Papa would take me on a Shikara ride. He would very proudly ask me if I have ever seen such beauty anywhere else.Before leaving this mortal world, he had asked me to share my skills with the people of Valley. This is one of the reasons why I opened Kapoor’s Talent Academy in Srinagar,” she says.

It was during her school days, a known personality of Punjab approached her and introduced her to a TV channel. Soon, she started working there as a chief Coordinator.

“I participated in every contest and would win them as well. So, I had gained a good media coverage, and this is where he spotted me,” Parul said. “I am really grateful to him, as he appreciated my talent.”

Parul has worked in various motion pictures as well.She has various music albums to her credit. “Then I turned to choreography and choreographed songs for many Punjabi films.I got an opportunity to work as an assistant director in Punjabi movies as well,” Parul said.

Parul had tried her luck in almost everything and she succeeded as well. But then she started looking for talent in colleges and universities. She started conducting workshops and auditions. In various universities, she said, Kashmiri students had a lot of urge to learn dancing and singing. “Their request and my father’s will were the reason for opening this academy in Srinagar,” she said.

Paul later started a show Pa Ma Ga Re Sa in Srinagar that continued for 28 episodes. All the Jury and production team for this singing show had come from Mumbai and Delhi.

A big achievement in Parul’s life was when Darshan Raval, (Jury in Zee TVs’ Dancing show DID), gave her a franchise of his Western Dance Academy. Her academy, not all polishes your talent but at the same time makes you participate in events. “Events have been successful enough,” Parul says.

Boys and girls come from Islamabad, Kokernag and other far-flung areas to learn creative things from Parul. Not only youth, but their parents are supportive enough to learn such thing. “We have a student from Islamabad as well who has taken a room on rent just to be regular at the Academy. We even take care of his studies here,” she says.

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