Muchhal's parents published advertisements in local newspapers to promote donations toward heart surgery for children like Lokesh. The attendant publicity prompted Bangalore-based cardiologist, Devi Prasad Shetty, to operate on Lokesh free of charge. Muchhal and her parents agreed to arrange a show and in March 2000, she used a street vendor's cart as a stage for the event and collected ₹51,000 (US$1,600) towards the cost of surgery. Lokesh's father was an impoverished footwear shop-owner and was unable to afford the high cost of heart surgery. Around the same time, teachers at Nidhi Bal Vinay Mandir, an Indore-based school, approached Muchhal and her parents with a request for a charity show to raise funds for their pupil, Lokesh, who was suffering from a congenital heart defect. Her decision to use her voice to help others was triggered when she saw poor children using their clothes to clean train compartments. ![]() Later that year, she sang to raise funds for victims of the 1999 Odisha cyclone. Her efforts received substantial coverage in Indian media and she raised ₹25,000 (US$810). ![]() During the Kargil War of 1999, when aged seven, she spent a week singing at shops in her home city, Indore, to raise funds for the families of deceased Indian soldiers. ![]() Muchhal became a member of Kalyanji-Anandji Little Star, a group of young singers, when she was four years old. Playing with friends is not more important than saving a life. , but then, it dawns on me that even if I lose my childhood, it's okay.
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