Manika Kaur

26-year-old Manika was born and brought up in Melbourne, Australia and moved to Dubai after she married in 2007. It would have been easy to slip into a laid-back life in the lap of luxury, but in her words, "I was sure that I didn't want to become just another socialite; I wanted to make a positive contribution to society, and at least try to make a difference." Blessed with a divine voice and writing poetry since she was little girl, Manika spent a lot of her growing years mimicking her favourite singers, musicians and raagis. Although she had no formal training in music, an Australian producer had already recorded an English song with her before she moved to Dubai.