Rhythm Divine

Written by Dipanita Nath

March 1, 2010 12:23 AM IST

3 min read

Hes been a monk and a guerrilla cadet. Tibetan flautist Nawang Khechog now uses music to fight for his country

At Majnu ka Tilla,the Tibetan settlement in Delhi,the flautist sits with his eyes shut,oblivious to the surrounding hubbub. Monks in maroon and ochre mill around,tourists eagerly snap pictures but when his flute begins to play,the murmurs fade. This is the effect Nawang Khechog,among the best-known Tibetan musicians in the world,has on his listeners from the North American Tour that actor Richard Gere had invited him to in 1991 to the United Nations General Assembly,where he opened the Earth Summit in 1992,to singer Joan Baez,who wrote an impromptu poem on his god-like melodies during a dinner for the Dalai Lama. His music evokes the vastness of the Tibetan high plateau and its rolling hills. Khechog is in Delhi for the International Festival of the Sacred Arts,his first performance in the Capital.

Khechog,who grew up in Orissa and Himachal Pradesh,where he was guided by the Dalai Lama himself during his years as a monk,says he feels no anger towards China,though at the age of 16 he did run away to join the Tibetan guerrilla army. I aim to use music as a means to inspire non-violence and compassion and for the freedom of the Tibetan people, says the 57-year-old who collaborated with Kitaro in his Grammy-nominated albums called Mandala and Enchanted Evenings. From Carnegie Hall to the Boston Symphony Hall,Khechog precedes his performances by reminding his audience about Tibet,the homeland from which his family fled with him in 1959. Even at the United Nations General Assembly,where protocol prevented him from talking politics,Khechog found a way. As delegates entered the hall and took their places,I walked to the seat of the Chinese delegation and began to play the Tibetan national anthem. Everybody listened attentively and clapped at the end,not realizing that I had just made a political statement, he says with a laugh.

He is a self-taught flautist who discovered his calling during a trip to Australia in his twenties. I was asked to play with a band. As I started playing,I realized that the band had fallen silent. At the end people asked for a encore. I didnt even know what an encore was so I walked off the stage, he says. A musician,he adds,was born that evening and he was soon giving concerts for the Tibetan cause. His talent was recognized quickly,especially in the West. Now,a resident of Colorado he has collaborated with musicians like David Bowie and Michael Stipe of REM and performed in the same concerts as U2,Pearl Jam,Alanis Morissette and Tracy Chapman among others. He has released five albums,of which Tibetan Meditation Music,hit number nine of the Billboard charts.

Khechog is no longer a monk (I gave up monkhood after 11 years),nor a guerrilla. Now,I let my flute play for the cause of freedom, he says.

Khechog performs at the Vishwa Shanti Stupa on March 2 (Time: 6.30 pm) and at IGNCA on March 5 (Time: 6.30 pm). Contact: 23746050

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music