Sting: Self-Important Pop Star Lauds Hinduism, Goddess

February 3, 2005

"In a sense, I am more a Hindu; I like the Hindu religion more than

anything else at this moment," says Sting, the bottle-blonde pop

star who has carved a niche for himself as a 'thinking rocker' and

bequeathed the word 'synchronicity' to teen talk.

"For me as an artist, it was important to be brought up in the

Christian tradition; it is very rich in imagery. And of course I

still use that, there is a great deal of awareness with that. But I

would not consider myself a Christian any longer. My beliefs are

much wider than that. I don't believe God is necessarily a Catholic

or Islamic or anything else ... it's a much larger concept than

that," says Hinduism's latest star convert.

As is to be expected, there is a lot of feel-good about India: "I

visit India very often. I spent the last New Year here. I was in the

desert near Jaisalmer. I think my favourite city is probably

Benares. There's something very magical about it. There's a Shiva

temple there that's fallen halfway into the Ganges and I find that

such a wonderful, powerful image ... it will stay with me for a long

time. There are many places in India that I haven't been too. And I

will spend the rest of my life discovering your wonderful country.

I've become addicted to it."

Sting — aka Gordon Sumner — who will perform for tsunami relief on

February 4 in Bangalore and February 6 in New Delhi, admires Indian

musicians. "I know Ravishankar very well and his wonderful daughter.

I know a great deal about Indian music and have tried to understand

its intricacies. I am aware how complex ragas are and how specific

the rhythm is."

A highlight of his performance is the presence of a female dancer

behind the singer who is viewed on a screen as he performs. "She's

like the female deity in this world ... I think we need more of the

goddess in our lives," he says.

SOURCE: The Times of India

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