Sting says he can't get India off his mind

BANGALORE: "In a sense I am more a Hindu, I like the Hindu religion more than anything else at this moment," says 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 last New Year''s in India. I was in the desert near Jaisalmer and we celebrated New Year''s — my wife''s birthday. I think my favourite city is probably Benares. There''s something very magical about that city. 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. And I will spend the rest of my life discovering your wonderful country. I''ve become addicted to it," he adds.
Sting, who performs for tsunami relief on February 4 at Bangalore and two days later in New Delhi as part of his Sacred Love tour, also expresses admiration for Indian musicians. "I know Ravi Shankar very well and his wonderful daughter. So yeah I know a great deal about Indian music and I have tried to understand its intricacies. I am aware how complex ragas are and how specific the rhythm is. I have a great deal of respect for it."
A highlight of the 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.