Don?t sit and let life pass you by.? That?s the philosophy Lee-Alison Sibley lives by. Small wonder then that the US consul general, George Sibley?s wife has her finger in many pies ? she is a singer, an actor, an educationist, a cookery teacher, a linguist and a calligraphy expert. Above all, she is an activist who is deeply interested in the welfare of children. ?Children are a big influence in my life,? she says. ?I want them to dream and aim high, which is only possible through education. So, I sing to raise money for that.?

Sibley has travelled around the world and her music has helped her cross boundaries ? both literally and metaphorically. She has sung American popular music, folk music, jazz as well as classical music in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Nepal, Jordan and now in India ? and represented the US in concerts around the world. The latest feather in her cap is the Rabindrasangeet album, The Distant Near, released jointly with Pramita Mallick. ?Learning Tagore?s songs is the best thing that has happened to me in the recent past. Now, I can represent Calcutta wherever I go,? she says with a smile.

Bengali is the 11th language for this linguist who can speak English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Arabic, Indonesian and Nepalese. She feels that she?s been sent to Calcutta ?for a reason? because she started reading Gitanjali and other Tagore works 30 years ago. ?My Indian roots were sown in 1976 when I visited the country for the first time. I believe I was sent here with a mission to do some good.?

It is this drive that inspired her to learn Tagore?s songs from Mallick. But her renditions have always been unorthodox. ?I have to understand what I sing and so I need to interpret. I am aware that this is not the tradition of Bengali singers who close their eyes and sit down to sing. Unlike them, I need to emote,? she explains. What?s even more interesting is that she has performed at Santiniketan and her interpretation of Tagore?s songs have been accepted. Of course, the lapsing of Viswa Bharati?s copyright has definitely helped, admits Sibley.

She feels that Tagore was a universalist and wouldn?t have wanted his creations to be locked away from the rest of the world. You don?t need to be Bengali to love Tagore,? she says. ?No other thing I have done has brought me closer to the people of Calcutta than Rabindrasangeet.? In fact, she has sung Rabindrasangeet even in the US.

Associated with more than seven non-governmental organisations (NGOs), one of the first Sibley joined was Shamlu Dudeja?s Calcutta Foundation. Since then, she?s become an active member of Samaritan Help Mission in Howrah which has a Mother Florence Vocational Training Centre for battered illiterate women named after her mother as well as a Sister Lee-Alison School. Other organisations she works for include the Bengal Service Society involved with sex-workers? children and the Tiljala Shed that works for rag-pickers.

Recently, Sibley has come out with her book, Jordan?s Jewish Drama Queen that narrates the story of her four years in the Arab world as the only Jew in a school with 1,400 Arabs who were mostly Muslim. ?It talks about how my students and I showed the Israelis and the Arabs that Jews and Muslims can live in peace,? she says. ?Children from the royal family would come to study in this school and so it created a controversy when I went to work there,? says Sibley. ?Part of it is funny and part of it is tragic. But it proved that peace is possible if you open your mind and your heart.?

A foodie who teaches cooking, Sibley is also a performer. She has taken part in and organised several plays like Women on the Edge that highlighted the inner conflicts experienced by women. She even studied acting in New York and has a Masters degree in performance and one in curriculum development. In fact, Sibley has also taught the teachers of Calcutta University and Jadavpur University how to teach and develop new curricula. Her latest project is a DVD on Calcutta?s attractions to lure US diplomats here. She?s being helped in it by Sangita Chatterjee, a journalism student.

An idealist to the core, Sibley has always been respectful towards religion and nationality. ?Prejudice has no place in my home. I?ve brought my kids up the same way,? says the proud mother of Benjamin (26) and Gabriel (22). While both her children are now away, Sibley spends most of her time with her husband, who is also her best friend. ?I met him on stage at a musical play. He was the leading man and I his leading lady,? she remembers.

The Sibleys? next stop is Madagascar, where her husband will be posted. She gets extremely emotional thinking about the impending move this August. ?When I leave Calcutta, I will leave behind my heart. Not only because my mother died here, I?ll also be reminded of the smiles of children at the Tiljala Shed. That is something I will carry with me when I leave,? she says.

Photograph by Rashbehari Das