The Mahakumbh culminating in Mahashivratri was a good time to recall untold stories about the lady who did us proud at the 67th Grammys. From the Prime Minister to our primetime anchors, everybody has celebrated Indian-origin corporate leader, philanthropist and musician Chandrika Tandon after she and her chant album Triveni walked away with the Best New Age Album award.
Let me begin by saying that the stunning parrot green and pink kanjeevaram sari I wore to Sonakshi’s wedding last year was a gift from Chandrika at a school reunion. She and her younger sister Indra (now Nooyi) were in school with me back in the 60s. At a 50th class reunion in Chennai just before corona hit, Chandrika flew down to join the gang. She had little time to board the bus in which nearly 30 of us went to Mahabalipuram for a one-night stay but she motored down in her Merc and had ordered gifts from Nalli for all.
Back in Chennai, her car reaching the city before the bus, she laid out high tea for everybody, with the Taj staff dancing around her. There was also an offer from her. Our school Holy Angels’ Convent would get smart rooms donated by us, the batch of 1969, and whatever all of us contributed collectively would be matched by her.
Those who’ve connected with her would know that Chandrika signs off every text and mail with “Love Life Laughter”. About 15 years ago, when money and ambition, all fulfilled, were no longer her drivers, Chandrika was looking for a new meaning to her life. The search led to “Love Life Laughter”. The words stirred curiosity, especially in the corporate world when she — renowned for aggressive boardroom negotiations — began to end every correspondence with “Love Life Laughter”. It birthed discussion, it opened others to create their own signatures.
In 1969, when the ICSC section had opened up at Holy Angels’ and commerce was first offered, Chandrika and I were the only two who had opted for the subject. Look where we are today. Alongside entrepreneurship, she’s at the Grammys, famous for her Shiva chants, and I am, well, right here.
Her albums of Shiva chants in assorted ragas have been like miracles destined to happen. Her famous Om Namo Narayana, for instance, literally danced in her head in her sleep, chants and tunes she wasn’t even familiar with.
Chandrika also has a legendary connection with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. She had learnt the Sudarshan Kriya; she thought of it as an “extraordinary technique” but she wasn’t looking for a guru. “Gurus weren’t my thing at all.” So, when the teacher who taught her the kriya approached her to host the founder of Art of Living in her New York house, along with a four-page list of requirements for his stay that included food, cleaning and rituals, Chandrika who was travelling all over the world, “with not a moment to breathe”, replied, “Sorry, it’s not happening.”
The teacher wasn’t one to give up and she told Chandrika, “You don’t know what you’re passing up.” The busy businesswoman paused and told herself, “Once isn’t going to hurt me.” And so, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar arrived to stay with the Tandons. The mob scene that followed made their New York apartment go wide-eyed with astonishment. They’d never seen lines snaking around multiple blocks with more curled up in the park opposite their apartment.
The personal transformation came on a Monday morning when Sri Sri held a two-hour spiritual session in Chandrika’s puja room, filled with disciples and devotees. She sang, he was lost in meditation. “And something shifted,” she recalled. “It was the most profound experience I’ve had in my life.”
This is not for sceptics but here’s a last word from our Grammy winner. “As Rumi says, ‘When you take a step towards the Divine, the Divine takes ten steps towards you’.” Love Life Laughter.
Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and an author
