Folk singer Kopila Gautam has been singing for more than two decades.
She was fascinated in singing since childhood and used to participate in various musical programmes.
Her father Devi Prasad Gautam is also a popular folk singer in Ilam. She was inspired by her father and began singing from her school days.
After her SLC (School Leaving Certificate), she studied in Ilam Campus for two years and later came to Kathmandu. She studied music at Lalitkala Campus with the intention of pursuing a career in music.
She has released two albums, Jau Hai Cheli, a collection of folk songs, and Mungalan Pasechhu, a collection of folk duets. She has sung more than a dozen songs so far.
Jau Hai Cheli, Muglan Passesi, Pokhara Fewtaal are some of her popular songs. Although she also sings modern songs, she likes to sing folk songs. While doing music, she got married and her musical career took a break.
After marriage she went to Malaysia and stayed there for eight years. Even though, she was in Malaysia, she released at least a song in a year to continue singing.
In Malaysia, she used to work in a newspaper and was equally active in the hotel business as well.
Gautam is also a cancer survivor. Despite having regular check-ups and adopting a healthy lifestyle, she was diagnosed with cancer.
“I followed a healthy lifestyle, had regular checkups and had no physical pain but still got cancer,” she said. She currently owns a café and is engaged in organic agriculture farming. Yet, she is trying to make a comeback in music.
“I have been fond of music since childhood and now I knew that life is uncertain, so I feel that I should fulfill my desire and that is music,” she said that she defeated cancer because of her will power.
“If I get cancer even after following a healthy lifestyle, I wonder other people who have difficulty having even two meals a day. What will they do if they get cancer?” she asked. Now she is planning to join a cancer awareness programme.
She said that even after cancer is diagnosed, we should be motivated to adopt a healthy lifestyle as cancer is a curable disease.
She also urged the government to provide financial assistance to cancer patients as cancer treatment is extremely expensive.
“Earlier, there was a belief that cancer has no answer, but now there is an answer and cancer can be fully recovered if we follow proper health care,” she said. She also advised to everyone for the regular health checkup in every six months.
Source : TRN,
