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STING in my hair!
submitted by the author to TGF on February 17, 2005
I just became part of music history that makes legends flesh and blood, invited as I was for the `Sting Live’ Concert in Bangalore. There, among thousands of fans, I was witness to an artistic synergy that combined the forces of spirituality, grace, class, reverence, sheer unbeatable talent, music sophistication and its management into an act that spelled artistic superiority (if I ever watch a mediocre act after this, I’m going to pelt it with eggs). An act that will forever remain etched in my mind for its magical brilliance. I’m no sucker to celebrity awe – however big a star, glamorous a bimbette or powerful a moghul -- having seen mighty oaks and mediocre bumpkins reduced to pandering their own egos, especially in India (Bollywood, Indi-pop, rock and assorted one hit stars in between being the worst). But I’m weak in the presence of artistic brilliance and people consumed by their goals of achieving artistic purity through passion and dedication, pursued by a single minded driven goal to follow their own paths. Here was an artiste forcefully, strongly and completely dedicated to this goal. As I met Gordon Mathew Sumner, universally known as `Sting’ at the Taj West End Hotel, Bangalore to the flashbulbs of paparazzi, I found myself speechless. Not in awe, but in reverance of being in the presence of a legend who had forged his path, who had risen beyond being just a musician and into an activist of sorts, and for this he truly deserved the adulation of the world and his countless fans. No `rock star’ package in the 54-year-old lean bodied, simply dressed, good looking man. Sting displayed a simple humility as he bounded onto the make-shift podium at the Taj West End – even as the media men and women collectively gasped in acknowledgement. Hands folded in a simple `namaste’ to a barrage of paparazzi flashbulbs, Sting blended effortlessly as `one of us’ and yet, not quite one of us. Easily answering questions as journos tried hard not to sound like fans, the self-confessed Indo-phile spoke about his journey in music following the path of spirituality and doing , “What comes straight from my heart. I don’t belong to any ideology. I have no agenda, Music is my journey through life,” he summed up three decades of soul searching. Later, the meticulous planning and execution of the concert, attention to detail (parking, traffic, entry and exit points, VIP section, crew, media, security, equipment, production teams), the play of sound and light to create an aura of theatre and music at the Palace Grounds had fans in a tizzy (me included, having been so much of the action upfront and backstage with the production and media crew). Fans from Goa were in full strength, even as I spotted Jerome Marrell and designer Wendell Rodricks, by now hoarse from screaming at the concert, echoing my sentiment, “This was an experience of a lifetime.” And what an experience! An act in perspective that puts the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa to shame, simply because it takes pros in the entertainment industry to understand what the `art of entertainment’ is all about. You cannot have amateurs putting together bits and pieces without the expertise it demands. Will Goa learn to respect quality? Do we demand quality? The same reason why the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) is a bunch of bumbling eager-beaver egoistic babus (BJP cronies is more like it. What are their credentials in entertainment, I have no clue. Does anybody?), who don’t understand class from crass, in planning and organization, in execution and in detail. Expecting finesse, I long realized, is expecting way too much here. And need I mention the sundry so-called `event managers’ who know nothing of management except personal management of their own pockets, by hook or crook (sorry guys, mediocrity sucks). Quality demands an open mind to ideas. An ability to rise above pettiness first, but too many self inflated egos in Goa. If the Government of Goa wants to make its mark in turning the State into the entertainment hub of the country – and we have been lobbying hard and passionately to make this happen, as passionately as the music that throbs in our veins – the government must get its act together NOW. In infrastructure. In its laws and licenses. In being less greedy in seeking commissions and kickbacks. By keeping the babus away as middlemen. By being proactive in encouraging and facilitating private initiative towards world class entertainment. The government must recruit the right talent who understand sound from clatter, who are above ego and personal gain. People who know what it takes to do a damn good job. And do it well. With panache and finesse. Above all, people who are wholeheartedly and passionately committed to a Goa that is NOW. TOMORROW. In her arts, culture, music and in her youth. I’m hitching my wagon to this agenda. We can and must make this happen. Ethel Da Costa
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