Muzaffarnagar: An unsupportive environment at home can taint anyone’s dreams. For Farmani Naz too, success did not come easily. She suffered from physical and mental abuse and faced all kinds of limitations in the pursuit of her dreams. She is an independent woman today and is a successful YouTuber. Let’s read Farmani’s story of courage and perseverance.

Following the passion of singing

Farmani Naz was born in Mohammadpur, Muzaffarpur. Her father, Arif works as a labourer. She has 7 siblings. Her father’s income was not enough to send the kids to school. Like her brothers and sisters, Farmani never received formal education. 

Since childhood, she had been fond of singing. It was a part of her life as well as a way of life for her. She would hum while doing the most trivial chores. The environment at home was such that she was constantly scolded for her artistic qualities. Her mother was of the opinion that girls are meant to remain behind the four walls of the kitchen and that they must not seek pleasure in these activities. 

Under unfortunate circumstances, Farmani was married off at the young age of 19. Due to rigid backwardness and poverty of the household, she was considered a burden and her parents wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible. After marriage, things did not become any easier for her. 

Farmani had hoped to get married into a good family, but nothing happened as she had imagined. The entire responsibility of the household was forcefully imposed on her after marriage. She was taunted for not getting up early in the morning. She would begin her day doing the household work and would end her day doing the same. Life became gruelling and for weeks she could not even step out of the house. Her complaints were registered with a prize of physical abuse at the hands of her husband. 

The unending ordeal

Soon, Farmani got pregnant and thought that her husband might change for the better. Even in her last month of pregnancy, she was made to do all the hard labour of household work, and her in-laws did not spare her of taunts. Despite facing all the mental torture, she hoped to give birth to a healthy baby. 

Farmani’s baby was born with a deformity; the baby’s face had one single hole for the nose and the mouth. Her in-laws felt disgusted to look at the innocent baby’s face and from there on Farmani’s troubles increased. 

Leaving the in-laws’ house

After consulting the doctors, she was told that the operation would cost somewhere around Rs 2 lakh. Her in-laws forced her to ask for money from her maternal home, but her family was already living in poverty and was unsupportive of her. The physical and mental harassment worsened to the point that Farmani finally decided to take a stand for herself. 

Farmani went back to her parents’ house with her baby. She sold her jewellery to support herself. The money did not last and soon not a single penny was left to feed the baby. It was at this moment that her cousin came as a beacon of optimism. Her uncle’s son brought a sense of hope back into her life. 

Getting a job

One day when Farmani was secretly singing a song, her cousin, Bhura listened to her. He asked her to sing the complete song and was left stunned to witness her singing prowess. The brother-sister duo went to a man called Rahul, who was working for the upliftment of local stars. Rahul had a YouTube channel and offered Farmani to sing in one of the videos. Her family insisted that she must be compensated for her work after which Rahul promised to pay her Rs 25,000 a month for her singing. 

Farmani’s very first song cover earned 10 million views on the YouTube platform. Her songs were a sudden hit and her popularity soared high. She did not remain a local star for long as within a span of a few months, she received an offer to sing a song with the legendary singer, Kumar Sanu. She was not paid for her work, but her circumstances drastically changed after that. 

Indian Idol

In the year 2020, Farmani auditioned for the singing reality show ‘Indian Idol’ and received a golden ticket with a direct entry to the top-12 contestants. But during the same time, her son’s health deteriorated, and she had to return back to her home. 

Rahul, the manager of the YouTube channel, helped her with her son’s treatment. An NGO, Smile foundation was contacted, and the operation was done free of cost. Farmani’s son was now healthy which gave her a sense of relief. 

Farmani devotes all her time to practice singing. Rahul runs three YouTube channels with the names Naz Bhakti, Naz Nazm and Naz Music. Farmani’s condition has improved and presently, nine YouTube channels are operated under her name. 

Husband’s second marriage

After Farmani established herself as a successful singer, her husband started pleading her to come back to him. She had realized her potential and rejected all the offers of going back to a suffocating house. Her husband married the second time without informing her. 

Farmani may not have received enough support from her own family, but she is aware about her responsibilities and after earning a good sum, she has bought her own property, a studio and a house for her family.