Sting: Self-Important Pop Star Lauds Hinduism, Goddess

[Guest guest]

, "Devi Bhakta"

<devi_bhakta> wrote:

> SOURCE: The Times of India

> URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1004495.cms

 

Hi DB,

 

whay have you labeled Sting as "self-important"? curious.

 

Thanks

[Guest guest]

Oh just having fun, is all. Sorry if I offended any Sting fans out

there:

 

http://www.borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=725

 

DB

 

, "manoj_menon" <ammasmon@s...>

wrote:

> Hi DB,

>

> why have you labeled Sting as "self-important"? curious.

>

> Thanks

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

I'm always glad when someone who has the spot light takes the time to remind us

of the

Goddess and our need for Her.

 

As to the "pop star'sself- importan(ce)" I would rather think that the

shallowness lies

with the media as much as the people on whom they focus. The author refers to

"synchronicity" as a part of "teen talk" when the song/album came out in 1983.

It would

have to be referred to as a part of "middle aged talk" now.

 

Also I know from working in the media - albiet radio - that you have to cut

hours down to

seconds. We've only got a few sentences from the artist here and they make him

sound

groping and shallow...but you can bet that there was an interview that lasted an

hour, or at

least a half and we're quoting him here on Hinduism and his few but (to him)

meaningful

impressions of India. Why doesn't the author quote the artist on some area of

his own

expertise when he might have had something interesting to say? Or if you are

looking for

quotes on Hinduism and the profound effect that India seems to have on so many

of Her

western visitors, why not interview an expert on that?

 

No, here the media parodies itself. It creates massive shallow interest in a

very few people

based on their entertainment value and then mocks their lack of depth in a venue

over

which it has complete control. The media makes and destroys heroes for its own

amusement and profit.

 

Our fault is in not questioning this process, in participating in the making and

the

mocking without ever fingering the real bully.

 

Blessings,

 

prainbow

 

, "Devi Bhakta" <devi_bhakta> wrote:

>

> "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

> URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1004495.cms

[Guest guest]

Hi Paulie:

 

[Oh, please don't let me have started another Madonna-like thread! :-(( ]

 

As always, your remarks are astute and appreciated:

 

*** I'm always glad when someone who has the spot light takes the time

to remind us of the Goddess and our need for Her. ***

 

Good point.

 

*** We've only got a few sentences from the artist here and they make

him sound groping and shallow ***

 

Also true. Quotes can be manipulated to create a strong but ultimately

inaccurate impression (a strategy often employed in

debates, as many of us have experienced firsthand *lol*).

 

*** Why doesn't the author quote the artist on some area of his own

expertise when he might have had something interesting to say? ***

 

Again, this is fair. While I am not much of a Sting fan, I did read

some excerpts from his autobiography when it came out a year or so

back. He doesn't use a ghostwriter, which you have to respect. It's

his own prose, and he obviously cares deeply about words and ideas and

his music. He is also a very good writer.

 

*** No, here the media parodies itself. It creates massive shallow

interest in a very few people based on their entertainment value and

then mocks their lack of depth in a venue over which it has complete

control. ***

 

Maybe, sometimes. But I don't think that's the dynamic at work here.

To me, it reads like a young Indian reporter was assigned to preview

Sting's upcoming Indian tour. This excerpt was used as a sidebar,

propably created when the editor yelled, "I need another 300 words in

10 minutes!"

 

It must be a rush job (again speaking from experience in the print

media), because the sidebar is all quotes. Probably amused by Sting's

assertion that he is a Hindu "at the moment," the writer appears to

have slipped in a bit of snarky connective tissue -- such as "says

Hinduism's latest star convert" and "as is to be expected, there is a

lot of feel-good about India" --- and called it a day.

 

Running a quick search on Google news, I see that several publications

ran this snippet. Some headlines were unironically starstruck:

 

* "Sting's addicted to India" (News24, South Africa)

 

* "I am addicted to India, it's magical, says Sting" (Times of India,

India)

 

* "Sting says he can't get India off his mind" (Times of India Online)

 

Others were tongue-in-cheek:

 

* "Sting says he's a Hindu -- at the moment" (used by three [3]

publications: Sify, India; Daily Times, Pakistan; and the Hindustan

Times, India)

 

* "I'm a Hindu ... for now — Sting" (IAfrica South African News, South

Africa)

 

I think it's all in good fun. As they say, the only bad publicity is

no publicity. I doubt Sting's self-regard was much damaged by this

rather lightweight barb, and I doubt ticket sales for his shows slowed

one iota. My guess is that the piece simply gave lots of people a

chuckle over breakfast, which is all one could really ask of it.

 

My 2 cents

 

DB

[Guest guest]

, "Devi Bhakta" <devi_bhakta> wrote:

>

> Hi Paulie:

>

> [Oh, please don't let me have started another Madonna-like thread! :-(( ]

>

> (insert: ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease)

 

ROFL - <choking with laughter>

 

Well, you sure gave me my chuckle!

 

BTW I did think that this had a very madonna-thread sound to it from the first

post.

 

And I do enjoy Sting's music, not unreservedly, but I do. So, I shall leave this

tempting

silliness alone and return to my online studies....

 

Thank you for all of your posts, I do look for them particularly, especially

when I'm picking

and choosing and do not have the patience for reading straight through the many

technical threads which I cannot understand.

 

Namaste,

 

 

prainbow

[Guest guest]

, "prainbow61" <paulie-

rainbow@u...> wrote:

>

> And I do enjoy Sting's music, not unreservedly, but I do.

 

Have you heard Sting singing backup on Krishna Das' Hare

Krishna/Amazing Grace medley, "Mountain Hare Krishna"? I love it

(probably more for KD's contribution than Sting's.) It's on KD's

_Greatest Hits of the Kali Yuga_ (fabulous title!) and on KD's

_Pilgrim Heart_

 

http://www.krishnadas.com/main/main.html

Amazon.com has an audio clip, if you'd like to hear a sample.

> Thank you for all of your posts,

> I do look for them particularly, especially when I'm picking

> and choosing and do not have the patience for reading

> straight through the many

> technical threads which I cannot understand.

 

Ditto! Many thanks.