e-rickshaw driver's son crowdfunds for fee

London, September 18

A 20-year-old ballet enthusiast, who is the son of an e-rickshaw driver in Delhi, is using a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to pay the fee for a training course at the famed English National Ballet School in London. Kamal Singh dreams of representing India at an international dance platform after he won admission to the school's one-year Professional Trainee Programme.

However, he needs to raise enough funds not only towards the fee but also the high living costs in the UK capital. “I decided to raise funds on Ketto. I am moved by the love and support I have been getting from the people. I am so grateful to the people who donated for my campaign," he said.

Singh has already raised over 18,000 pounds ($23,297). He needs 27,777 pounds. The young dancer was oblivious to the world of ballet four years ago, when a chance encounter with Maestro Fernando Aguilera, the director of a ballet school and company in New Delhi, changed the course of his life.

He soon fell in love with the classical dance form and embarked upon the tough training regime, finding it quite challenging as he started to learn only at the age of 17. PTI