Samsara's real leader
Grammy award winner Ricky Kej was among the 100 Real Leaders chosen by the UN for his work on conservation.
If the awe-inspiring beauty of nature could translate into notes — a babbling brook, the ebb and flow of waves, the wind’s howling conversations, the rustle of trees, chirping birds, then Ricky Kej’s Winds of Samsara would be that eclectic melody. The Bengaluru-based Grammy award winner is a perfectionist at heart, a creator in spirit with little time for frivolities. Ricky was recently on the coveted list of 100 Real Leaders who ‘inspire the future’, alongside Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie, and the only Indian to be featured by the United Nations. “As the only Indian, it is a huge recognition, and super important. But if awards are used just for vanity, it’s pointless, using awards for a greater good is what matters to me,” says Ricky, who will be performing live in a first of a kind ticketed show in Bengaluru on February 24 and 25 with many international artists, and his Grammy buddy Wouter Kellerman.
The unassuming musician, after much prodding, speaks of his musical endeavours, “I did an album with Peter Gabriel. I have been a huge huge fan of his, he is my absolute hero as very few pioneers have taken notes from different cultures and respected them equally. We did work for 2UniteAll, to raise funds for emergency aid and medical supplies in the Gaza conflict,” recalls Ricky. Working with Big B for his album Shanti Samsara was special, and so was meeting Hans Zimmer, the German film composer, backstage just after getting the shining Grammy. He recalls working with Stewart Copeland, the former drummer of the band Police, saying it was riveting, and so was collaborating with Philip Lawrence who is behind the songs of Bruno Mars and Adele. “Lawrence is the guy with a hat always dancing in the background in some Bruno Mars’ videos. I also got to collaborate with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London which was indeed inspiring,” says Ricky.
Kej’s music has been hugely appreciated internationally, and his tryst with concerts saw him in New York, France, Spain, and India. The Indian musical genius who’s music was the highest played on international radio channels abroad laments at the state of Indian music appreciation, “Sadly no one in India played it on radio, because here it is only Bollywood that works,” mulls the musician who names Pandit Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar, Zakir Hussain, the core of Indian maestro-ship that shifted abroad as there was little recognition and acclaim for their singular individualistic classical strains of music in a Bollywood-consuming India.
As a UN Real Leader, Ricky has been on-the-job raising awareness about climate change, be it at the Vidhana Soudha or the United Nations. But, in his unpretentious style, he is onto other conservation pursuits — the Children’s Conservation Programme in music where he has sung songs about the various facets of nature. “The songs are akin to nursery rhymes on topics like tiger, water, trees, etc which will be translated into multiple languages. We are in the process of recording, and the songs will be uploaded onto a public domain with no royalties so all can use it. We are training musicians who will visit schools, teach children these songs, and are also spreading the awareness through the Internet and text books. We hope to reach out to three to four million children to start environmental consciousness at a younger age,” explains Ricky, who has always believed in using the language of music to reach out to young adults.
Even his music videos are messages, be it the documentary after visiting the archipelago Kiribati, a sinking island, addressing the rising sea levels, after being inspired by the then President Anote Tong’s speech at the December 2015 United Nations COP21 conference in Paris. His Grammy Award takes pride of place at home, and his heart. Winning it in the Best New Age Album category with collaborator South African flautist Wouter Kellerman was just the beginning of a long and enriching association. After Wings of Samsara, he has worked with Wouter on many projects. “In Shanti Samsara, Wouter played the flute, and I worked on post production. In Symphonic Soweto, an ode to Nelson Mandela, I co-produced,” adds Kej who will be working on new music videos with Wouter, who is in the country for his live show.
Kej has brought climate change into our conversations. A part of the UN’s initiatives are Sustainable Development Goals earmarked for 2030, 17 goals that nations, individuals and conglomerates can take forward, and ratify. I picked a couple of goals to raise awareness, and in every concert, I try to give people direction,” Ricky elaborates. Meeting Prime Minister Modi was memorable. Shanti Samsara was in fact launched by the PM and the President of France — Francois Hollande. His wife Varsha and Ricky expected a quick meet-and-greet which evolved into an hour-long philosophical discussion where the PM urged him to jump into conservation. Kej has composed for Japanese PM Shinzo Abe during his visit to India.
“With an idea in my mind, I explore the emotions with it. I want to show the language of feeling using music,” says the acclaimed composer. His wife Varsha is pretty much his managing partner (in life and work) as Kej goes about imbibing inspiration from fleeting moments in life, “Yes, she is the one who handles everything, from concerts to albums and collaborations, etc. Which lets me concentrate on music,” smiles Ricky who admits to being a complete musicoholic, so when he is not sleeping, he is making music. “I have my own eccentricities as a musician, and a pretty short temper (he laughs). I also have little tolerance for certain things! But that’s who I am. I love being with animals, and working on music,” says the young musician who as we speak already has some ‘dhuns’ running about in his mind. For a musician who’s first gig was in 1997 as an idealistic 17-year-old, strumming the guitar for a Christmas celebration at a Bengaluru supermarket, his meteoric rise and iconic status is a dream come true, yet his idealism holds strong, and so does his unique musicology.