new delhi joseph haydn was a mentor to mozart and taught beethoven now a 10yearold gurgaon boy is under his tutelage it has been a year since rishan bhatnagar entered palais augarten the palatial school boarding and rehearsal space of vienna boys choir in vienna austria after being handpicked by its director at a hobby classrishan is the first indian in the renowned 500yearold choir he is on a fouryear scholarship and gets to perform all over the worldwhile most of the 100 choirboys aged 913 years are austrian 15 are from other countries they are grouped in four teams of 25 named after austrian composers bruckner haydn mozart and schubert rishan bhatnagar who is in the haydn group sings every sunday at church mass and has also travelled for three months to perform in 23 chinese cities besides venues in taiwan hong kong and singaporehis mother shaheen khokhar bhatnagar said she didnt imagine his voice would carry him so far when she enrolled him at lorraine music academy in gurgaon he had been training with mozart childrens choir when one day he sought permission to join a workshop by a prestigious choir group after the workshop gerald wirth director of the choir complimented my sons voice and asked me if we would like to send him to austria said shaheen she thought it was an offer for a summer workshop but baulked when wirth explained next day that rishan would be trained as a singer and taught german and other school subjects over five yearsrishan was only eight years old and we couldnt have sent him away we refused initially but the director convinced us to come to austria for a week and decide thereafter after two days in austria rishan convinced his parents that he wanted to stay on now he calls them up to assure them he is well settled and they shouldnt worry about himrishans aunt reem khokhar who is part of delhi choir capital city minstrels said his big break has meant a hectic practiceandperform runrishan has a gruelling schedule apart from focusing on studies and preparing for performances the group also travels extensively while it did take time for him to settle down he has adapted wellsince the group tours three months a year the boys have to complete their curriculum in nine months along with regular music practicetheir performances are among the biggest tourist attractions of vienna rishan tells us passersby wave at them and pose with them for pictures while he doesnt realise this we know what a reputed group he is part of said shaheen