The singing nun of Kathmandu

With several albums and a series of concerts around the globe under her belt, the singing nun of Kathmandu is taking the Nepalese and international music industry by the storm.

Draped in a maroon robe, serene-faced Ani Choying Drolma hardly looks like a pop icon - but her music videos show that she is as comfortable singing and performing as she is meditating with her prayer beads.

This is a woman who stands out from the crowd, a woman who by her own admission loves to do things “which nuns are not supposed to do.”

She goes out with friends to watch Hindi films “like a regular person”, and is not averse to the idea of kicking a football to inaugurate a charity tournament.

Suffering a troubled childhood in poverty and an abusive father, Choying told her mother about her decision not to marry; she received an ultimatum - join a Buddhist monastery and become a nun or stay in the secular world and find a husband. Desperate to break free, she decided to join a monastery near Kathmandu when she was barely 13 years old.

But she says even there she faced bias against women. Because she could not complete her studies in the monastery, she found solace in music - without realising her potential as a singer. “Singing and dancing were things I enjoyed since childhood," she said, "while playing with my kid brother or cooking, washing or even when I was very sad, I would sing.”

One of the first music cassettes Choying received as a present made a lasting impact on her -- it was by American blues singer and guitarist Bonnie Raitt who rapidly became Choying's favourite. But the man who really identified Choying's potential as a singer was American guitarist Steve Tibbetts, who was a regular visitor to the monastery.

He introduced her to the international music scene. Her first exposure to a global audience came in 1998 when she travelled to the US to perform in various cities. It was during one such tour that Choying noticed in the audience “a red-haired woman” who resembled her childhood idol Bonnie Raitt. “I shrugged off the thought thinking why a celebrity singer would come to my concert?” says Choying. But at the end of the concert, the “red-haired woman” walked up to her and said: "I am Bonnie Raitt and I am a big fan of yours.” It was a memorable moment. “Then she introduced me to her musicians,” Choying remembers with a glint in her eyes.

Since then, Choying has travelled far and wide without losing sight of her lifelong aim to educate girls, especially from poorer backgrounds. As the money started pouring in with the sale of her albums, in 2000 she founded Arya Tara school for novice nuns near Kathmandu.

Preparing to record her latest devotional hymns in an ordinary-looking studio, Choying says she is waiting for travel documents to go on a musical tour to China - a tough choice for someone born as a refugee to visit the country perceived as an oppressor.

Source: BBC