A DVD with meaningful messages

by Mahes Perera

Dedicated in his quest for spreading comradeship and unity among people through his live concerts Rukshan Perera has released a DVD which is a compilation of songs that reach out to the unhappiness of the underpriviledged communities especially in the areas of education, health, poverty and other related areas.

The DVD titled 'Experiencing Rotary through Music' has been released under the auspices of the Rotary Club of Colombo.

One of our leading musicians in Sri Lanka, Rukshan is well known as a vocalist and guitarist and is a multi instrumentalist-the piano being his next favourite instrument.

After living for more than three decades in the United States, where he was involved in many musical activities as well as voluntary social service work through reputed organisations in Los Angeles, Rukshan on his return to Sri Lanka was determined to continue his music and his social service work, the latter through the Rotary Club of Colombo.

So far Rukshan Perera has staged four successful concerts in Sri Lanka which featured Sri Lankan famed singers and musicians and the proceeds were donated to charity and needy projects.

The DVD contains six music tracks some of them from earlier concerts and some specially staged for the inclusion in the DVD.

Question: Your songs cover interesting areas of social service activities. How did 'Eradicating Poverty' become a reality in lyrics and music and what was the idea you were wanting to project?

Answer: The song signifies the worldwide effort to eradicate poverty and improve the lives of over a million people. I had the honour of meeting the Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammed Yunus in Bangladesh in 2011 and I wrote this song as a tribute to him.

This version is a live performance from one of my concerts. Dr. Yunus, father of micro-credit financing, works in more than 80,000 villages in Bangladesh and has taken millions of Bangladeshi's out of poverty.

One of his powerful sayings is 'poverty belongs in the museum, not in the civilised world'. At his age, he is now 74 years, his determination and dedication is remarkable.

Q: It goes without saying that your ideas for the lyrics of the song you composed for Nelson Mandela would have come easily considering the contribution Mandela has made to mankind. Could you elaborate?

A: Nelson Mandela's commitment to humanitarian service and world peace won him the highest award for World Understanding.

The song that I composed and sang "Fight For Justice" is a vibrant tribute in my opinion, to a great human being who fought for human rights and championed the reconciliation process in South Africa.

I believe there are many lessons we can learn through his experience and leadership.

Q: To date there are many songs relating to the preservation of planet earth. Michael Jackson's 'The Earth Song' is a well recognised one which hit the high spots. Now your song 'A Green Planet' sees you involved in this area as well. I'm sure you must have found it refreshing sifting through your creative ideas on the subject?

A: It is a global dream and endeavour of the Rotary too, to guide the planet and its people on this path. It is important to understand the challenges of creating a sustainable planet for a rapidly growing population.

I get requests to write songs for special events, for companies and for organisations. This song 'A Green Planet' was written for the annual 2010 ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards.

It's a wake up call for all of us to check abuse and take care of mother earth for the sake of the next generations. This song I sang as a duet with Natasha Ratnayake at one of my concerts.

Q: You have written about education rights as a subject for one of your songs, from where did you draw inspiration to create the song?

A: My inspiration came from Malala Yousafzai, a 16-year-old education activist from Pakistan who was shot at for speaking out for girl's education.

Every January 1, I have my concert "Rukshan Perera Live in Concert" and prominent guest artistes perform my originals at these concerts. On January 1 this year, I was honoured to have had young Umaria Sinhawansa sing the special song 'I Am Malala' at the concert.

This was my tribute to Malala Yousafzai and her story of triumph over brute force and hatred. It was written to highlight how certain communities refuse to provide basic education for girls something we take it for granted in Sri Lanka.

Q: Peace and harmony was another subject you have chosen for composing. How different is it from the others we hear?

A: Sri Lanka has come out of a 30 year terrorism and is now at the stage of reconciliation and seeking peace.

I was in Los Angeles when terrorism ended, and after composing the song, I invited all Sri Lankan musicians and singers living in Los Angeles to record this song. I was happy to have with us the only Sri Lankan Grammy Award winner and talented musician Hussain Jiffry to sing, play bass and record and mix the song. This song is a call to all Sri Lankans to live in peace and harmony.

The performance in Rukshan Perera Live in Concert II was backed by Eshantha Peiris, keyboards, Harshan Gallage, drums and other well known musicians.

It is not all musicians in Sri Lanka who spend their working hours in composing songs to spotlight the hardships and disadvantages of the community and to Rukshan Perera must be given the credit for involving himself with dedication to the cause. His latest DVD 'Experiencing Rotary Through Music' is now on the shelves and all proceeds will be channelled to deserving social service projects.