Striking the right note, on and off the stage

She can handle the complexities of beautifully-spun melodies with the same ease with which she managed traffic at Panaji’s bustling Caculo Mall junction just a week ago. And though she has scaled every height that a singer of her calibre can, Goa’s golden girl, Hema Sardesai, is devoid of the idiosyncrasies that define most celebrities.
It is not everyday that one can see a personality helping streamline vehicular movement, rescuing animals in distress, or campaigning for social causes.Yet, for Sardesai, it’s all in a day’s work.
“In whatever one does, there has to be an area of extreme gratitude. This makes one naturally humble,” she points out as she adds, “No person can label achievements as his/her own...whatever he/she accomplishes belongs to the universe, to God. So what does one show off for?”
Although Sardesai’s mellifluous rendition of the song Awaara Bhavaren in the 1997 Kajol starrer, ‘Sapnay’, catapulted her into the national limelight, she had proven her mettle on the global music stage a good eight years earlier, when she’d won the Grand Prix at the 16th edition of the International Pop Song Festival in Germany. “It was just that I hadn’t had a song on the radio yet,” she smiles.
She takes to music like a fish does to water, but chords and pitches were not really a priority during Sardesai’s early childhood. “Putting the boys to shame, that was my job,” the Sharada Mandir alumnus laughs, while describing herself as having been extremely naughty as a child. She goes on to reveal the scars on her limbs to prove it. “I’d prefer sitting on trees when other people would use chairs or benches. I’d also wear boys’ clothes just to make my parents feel that they had a son.”
Sardesai is the younger of the two daughters of Kumudini Sardesai of Parra and the late Dr Kashinath Sardesai of Savoi-Verem. Her elder sister, Sunila Muzawar, is a certified public accountant (CPA) in the US.
Her inclination towards music was spotted at the tender age of five by her late teacher, who she calls Mrs Sequeira. The teacher immediately summoned her father and said to him, “This girl is going to go very far.”
That she did. Following the tremendous reception to Awaara Bhavaren, Sardesai’s prowess as a vocalist grew from strength to strength. She not only lent her voice to a host of popular Bollywood tracks, but also performed duets with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan (for ‘Baghban’) and Shah Rukh Khan (for ‘Josh’).
Unlike many of her contemporaries, the generally carefree Sardesai was niggled not by career concerns or popularity fears, but by the religious divide, economic disparity, and gender discrimination plaguing society. The songs in her own 1998 album, ‘Hindustani Gudiya’, threw light on the unfairness meted out to the girl child. “I think I was made to worry about everyone and everything,” she shrugs as she explains how she eventually began using her voice for social interests. “My mission is to give back to society by singing for causes and for God,” she says.
Interestingly, Sardesai’s first Konkani album — released when she was just 13 — was on the life of St Francis Xavier. She takes prides in the fact that although she was born a Hindu, her parents encouraged her to love all religions equally. As a result, Sardesai grew up celebrating every festival. She even recounts how the family’s Christmas tree and crib used to be the star attractions at their residence in Boca de Vaca every year.
The ‘Cu cu ru cu’ singer went on to marry Xavier D’Souza, an investment banker from Cunchelim. “We’re quite the cosmopolitan family,” Sardesai quips. “I am married to a Catholic and my sister, to a Muslim. My parents celebrated both our weddings with great pomp. I owe much to them, not only for supporting me in my career, but also for instilling great values,” she says.
Magnanimous though she may be, Sardesai confesses to having bouts of megalomania. “One might think I am one of the nicest human beings ever, but I am very short-tempered and tend to swear a lot, more so when someone tries to hurt me or my music,” she reveals. Despite her three pet cats being her stress busters — they usually accompany her wherever she goes — Sardesai maintains that her greatest way to unwind is by contributing to society and helping those in need. “I feel really happy to help,” this disciple of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar beams.
The singer is quite an open book about everything except her age. She says she chooses to keep it a secret not because she is worried about growing older, but because it simply doesn’t matter.
“In the words of Paramhansa Yogananda, when you are 70 and still feeling young, you will begin feeling old if you tell someone else that you are 70. Why would you want to do this to yourself? You don’t owe it to that person,” she points out.