By Shama Harrysingh
SOUTH FLORIDA – Nalini D Sankar, formerly Nalini Bissambhar also called Nilli B undoubtedly shows herself to be a beautiful and talented young singer. She is the lead vocalist of one of South Florida’s hottest local bands, Dimensionz Band.
Nilli B was born in the beautiful town of Sangre Grande, Trinidad. She comes from a family of accomplished musicians. Her father the late Jeewanlal Bissambhar and uncle, Teddy Bissambhar were foundation members of the D. Rampersad’s Indian Art orchestra. Her siblings Anil, Nisha and Ravi Bissambhar are the founders of the popular Karma Indian Orchestra.
Although Nalini never sang in Trinidad, it was apparent that she was musically gifted. When she married her husband Nigel in South Florida, he encouraged her to sing and within a short period of time she was Performing on stage. This was a turning point in her life.
They have released several singles, including ‘Sach Liye Kaha’, a Hindi remix of Gwen Stephanie’s ‘Underneath it All’ which created waves in the United States and on the airwaves in Trinidad and Tobago. They also released a collaboration with her brother Ravi B entitled ‘Dil Mein Sanam’ which was No 1 on the charts for eleven weeks.
Nilli B continues to capture the hearts of audiences wherever she performs.
In addition to being a singer, Nalini also runs two of her own companies, Symphony Accounting which provides contract book-keeping services and Symphony Empires which distributes her original designs of clothing, jewelry and cosmetics branded as the ‘Nillilicious line’. She retails her merchandise at her online boutiquewww.nillilicious.com
Her company is also the international distributor for her siblings, Ravi and Nisha B’s lines of merchandise as well. The multi talented beauty wears many hats. She has also been trying her hand at freelance journalism for quite a few years. She wrote articles for both Shuga’s Magazine of Canada and Pardes Magazine of Florida. Nilli B recently started the ‘Nily Bee’ Blog which explores interesting sites around the globe.
Her biggest accomplishment is the publication of her first children’s book based on ‘Divali in Trinidad’ which was launched for Divali 2013 and was just accepted for publishing by Amazon Books.
She plans on writing a series of children’s books aimed at teaching children about the rich culture of Trinidad and Tobago.
Education
Nalini completed her early education at Sangre Grande Hindu School, Lakshmi Girls Hindu college and Student Accountancy Center of Chaguanas. Currently, she is a student at Florida Atlantic University completing her degree in accounting
Personal Life
Nilli B migrated to Florida in 1998 and married her husband Nigel Sankar, leader of Dimensionz Band. They have two wonderful sons, Rahul amd Rajeev. Despite her busy schedule, Nilli B’s priority is her children. “I have two wonderful little boys who are my world. Nigel and I had them when we were really young so we basically grew up with our boys. We do everything together, if we are practicing in the band room, the boys are with us. If we take a business trip, I make it a mini vacation for the kids as well.”
Managing her own business gives her the flexibility to spend quality time with her sons.
“On any given day you’ll find me volunteering at their school, or at a music lesson or soccer game. They are two very cool kids and I love hanging out with them and they with me. They actually sat through my lip line colour testing and helped me choose from over 300 samples!” said the low profile singer.
The couple lives in Sunrise, Florida.
Q: Who inspired you to sing?
Nalini: Singing and music has been a part of my family history but I only started singing after I married my husband Nigel and we started our band. He needed a female singer and insisted I must be able to sing 🙂
Q: Who is your idol?
Nalini: Generally, I adore Lata Mangeshkar and more recently Shreya Goshal. However, my sister Nisha is my true musical idol.
My literary idol is JK Rowling. I have deep admiration for powerful, independent women who go above what is traditionally expected from our gender.
Q: What types of songs do you sing?
Nalini: Film, Religious, Chutney, Soca, Pop , basically anything the occasion calls for.
Q: What are your hobbies?
Nalini: Reading, writing, snorkeling, diving and traveling.
Congratulations on your achievements Nilli B!
