Ricky Kej, Mother Earth’s warrior
Shailaja Khanna
It is truly inspiring to chat with Ricky Kej — it’s not the world recognition of his undoubted talent as a musician (amongst others, Grammy awardee in 2015, # 1 US Billboard New Age Albums, Youth Icon India award), it’s his very visible, almost perceptible passion as an environmentalist. Despite a very lucrative career as a composer, Ricky Kej today has confined his musical expressions only to causes which he believes in. Born in the US, today a Bangalore resident, Ricky Kej is truly a global citizen. His concerts are as much a visual experience as an aural, where his message is driven home powerfully and effectively through both senses. Playing a concert at the Jaipur Literature Festival, which incidentally has environment as the theme and, Ricky is eloquent and articulate as ever. Excerpts from an interview…
Ricky, you are an ambassador for Earth Day Network India. Tell us about that.
I am very proud to be an ambassador for Earth Day Network; I think they are doing great work all over the world, especially in India. Last year they focused on plastic pollution; this year it’s been ‘Save the Species’. I think it’s a bit ridiculous actually that when species are practically on the verge of extinction we wake up and try to salvage things. Like the great Indian bustard – it’s practically extinct now, it’s almost too late to try and save it.
There are actually just so many issues that need our attention. Apart from saving species that are dying out, I feel that not poaching, but human and animal conflict is a bigger issue in India. I have been trying to create awareness on the issue, specifically human and elephant conflict. Logically, capture and relocate is the best solution, and, on paper, it’s better than actually killing the animal. But even a logical and humane solution can be so painful, traumatic, literally excruciating — not just for the animals, but even for the humans involved. I wanted to showcase this aspect, so made a brief film to accompany my song “Kudrat”, which was sung by Hariharan in Sanskrit, and by Patti Austin in English.
My concert at Jaipur Literature Festival was in my capacity as Earth Day Network Ambassador, and like all my concerts, focused solely on spreading a message of caring for the environment. It was great to have everyone in that big audience shout after me: “I will consume less. I will be the change I want to see.”
Your concert in Jaipur was quite moving, ending as it did with your picturisation of our National Anthem with animals. How did that happen?
I have actually made two versions of the Indian National Anthem; first in 2015 and then another version in 2017. See, a country is not just the humans who live in it. The natural landscape and animals have lived on the land before we did; they are the true citizens of the nation. When you think of a country you think of its natural beauty, at least I believe that. So I thought if you are representing India, feature the original citizens of India! Incidentally, my father is originally from Jaipur so it was great to play my first concert in Jaipur.
Coming back to wildlife, I recently made the music for a documentary film on Karnataka, which released last week. It was commissioned by the state government. Sir David Attenborough lent his voice, award-winning Amoghavarsha JS and Kalyan Varma produced and directed the film. Whoever has seen it just loves that the entire film is just about wildlife.
I believe you campaign against sound and air pollution too…
A lot of young people under the age of 40 are slowly losing hearing and they are not even aware of it. This is due to listening devices, clubs and concerts where the speakers are not positioned correctly. The WHO has now enacted global standards to “make listening safe”. I am pretty much like an unofficial ambassador of this and have played concerts on this theme to raise awareness.
The WHO has a campaign called Breathe Life. They have initiated this with the UN Environment, the World Bank and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. The concern is that 7 lakh children are annually dying due to air pollution; 9/10 children are not breathing clean air. So I was told to create something inspirational on this theme. I played an hour-and-a-half concert at the Geneva Assembly Hall in October 2018. My concert was structured to inspire the listeners who were basically world leaders from 93 countries to commit to enact the legislation. The concert happened in the evening, and at the meeting the next day, almost all the leaders did commit and even quoted from my concert!
You associate with musicians from all over the world. Tell us more about it.
The regulars in my band are from all over the world. I have a flute player, Wouter Kellerman, from South Africa, an artiste from Vietnam, a Peruvian guitar player, singers from NY and LA. In India it’s a privilege collaborating with great classical musicians like Pt Vishwamohan Bhatt.
Something new for you now, I believe, is performing for the Army. How did that happen?
I love to perform for the Forces. It’s not just about entertaining them, it’s to spread my message about protection of species, nurturing our landscape and not polluting it. Our soldiers man the remotest areas, so, reaching out to them is important. Recently, the Northern Army Commander invited us to perform for over 10,000 soldiers at Leh. I would love to do more such concerts, all over India.
