'Religion should be no barrier for artistes'

He said “he did not distinguish between Krishna and Christ.”

The musician, who has also sung several Kannada songs, both devotional and for cinema, stressed on universal brotherhood and secularism. God does not have religion, he remarked.

He revealed that he imbibed this quality of secularism from his father, who had sternly told him to respect everybody irrespective of their religion or community.

“He also told me to desist from becoming a member of any political party,” Yesudas added.
He was speaking at a function where he was presented with the S V Narayanaswamy Rao Memorial National Award for 2011 of the Sri Ramaseva Mandali by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa here.

The award is instituted in the name of the Mandali’s founder. The annual award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 50,000, has been awarded to singers like Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, M S Subbulakshmi, Pandit Jasraj and M Balamuralikrishna.

“I continue to consider myself as a student and try to correct myself for the world of music is too vast for anybody master it so easily. Sometimes, I even learn from children. There are certain sounds which we cannot produce like them, no matter how well trained we are,” Yesudas said.

Yeddyurappa, who claimed to be a fan of Yesudas, said that he considered it as his fortune to be presenting the award to the singer.