Shekhar Sen: Giving past philosophies new life

Angela Dewan ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 02/16/2008 12:42 PM  |  People

"Hinduism is not a religion, Hinduism is a culture. It is not about rituals, it's about values. If you go to the temple, you are a Hindu. If you don't, you're still a Hindu. If you devote your life to God you are a Hindu. If you criticize God, you're still a Hindu."

These are the thoughts that circulate in Indian performer Shekhar Sen's ever-open mind. Everything is metaphysical. Everything is debatable. There is no black and white.

"Life is the urge of learning. When you stop considering that what other people think may be right, you're already dead."

In ten years, Shekhar Sen went from being a "starving artist" to a world-famous performer. He now has over 160 recordings and 1,000 shows to his name. He has graced audiences in Hong Kong, the UK, Singapore, Belgium, the West Indies, Suriname and Indonesia.

With a commerce degree and dreams of becoming a chef, Shekhar decided to redirect his career and follow family tradition by trying to make it as a musician. Having well-respected singers of classical Indian music as parents, he says his career path was his destiny.

He now calls India's buzzing Mumbai home. He moved there from his hometown Raipur; like many others with the hope of finding his big break composing music for Bollywood films. Frustrated with the lack of originality of Bollywood music, Shekhar turned to devotional music.

However, he was continually dissatisfied, despite his success composing for some of India's famous singers.

"I'm very self-analytical, I was never happy with what I was doing. Still today I wonder if I'm on the right path and if I'm doing what God expects me to do," he says.

He was also dissatisfied with the audiences' reactions to his earlier concerts.

"After two hours people were talking about everyday things -- their work and their families. It wasn't touching their souls. I wanted to touch their hearts. I didn't even want to give the audience the chance to blink."

This attitude led him into recluse to write his first play, Tulsi, based on the life of the author of the Hindu epic Ramayana.

"The first year was very tough. No one was buying tickets. The problem with Indians is they'll only buy tickets for films. So I sold everything I had. I was on the verge of bankruptcy."

Shekhar stayed hopeful with a little inspiration from some of India's great philosophers.

"I've always been fond of reading biographies. Even today if you give me a biography I'll just push everything else aside and I'll just read. I believe one person can do wonders. If you read about the lives of successful people or philosophers, you come to know how they won with all odds against them."

His second play, Kabeer, was a different story. It was a hit, selling full-house shows. It marked the true launch of his career, which has since ushered him all over India and around the world.

Last week, he returned to Jakarta to perform his latest musical play, Vivekanand, of which he is also the composer and lyricist.

Like his first two plays, Vivekanand is a one-man show that evocatively portrays the life of Vivekananda, an Indian world-renowned philosopher and pioneer of Vedanta philosophy, taught mostly today through yoga. His story is lucidly told through monologue and classical song.

Shekhar proves to be emotionally immersed in his subject, delivering his biography with fervor.

"Vivekananda changed India's history. At the age of 32, the whole world knew about him. He had wonderful vision. He was the first person to start a girls' school in India. He knew that if women were not educated and if they did not participate equally in society, India would not survive. That touches me most," says Shekhar.

Much is told about Vivekananda's life in Shekhar's play and proves to be relevant to today's struggles. Despite being of an earlier generation, Vivekananda's philosophies seem almost more relevant today than they were in his time.

He broached the subjects of feminism, politics, peace, and controversially, religion. He was against religious conversion, as Shekhar explains: "If you like something from Islam you can accept it, whether you are Muslim or not. If you like something from Christianity, you can accept that too. There is no need to actually become a Christian to accept their teachings.

"He believed converting was trying to say that what you believe is the best and that will ultimately bring about fanaticism; and fanaticism is going to ruin the world."

Vivekananda showed incredible foresight on this issue. In his address to the World Parliament of Religions in the U.S. in 1893, he warned of fanaticism destroying the world. Some see it as no coincidence that the speech was given on Sep. 11 of that year; the same date as the terrorist attack in New York 108 years later, and 108 being an auspicious and sacred number in Hindu belief.

Listening to the thoughts of Shekhar Sen, one would be forgiven for thinking he was a philosopher himself. The humble Shekhar, however, doesn't see himself that way.

"I'm not a philosopher. I am a modest representative of my culture. All the songs I sing are part of my heritage; I did not invent them. These philosophies are not mine."

Yet he does philosophize. Nothing is straightforward. When asked to tell of the highlight of his career, he responded: "A musician's career is like ripples in the oceans, new things are always emerging.

"I think every day is a wonderful day and you learn something. You can learn from each and every moment and each and every person. They're the things that keep me going. I don't have one specific highlight."

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