By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter
He has visited virtually every country under the sun and, perhaps, no culture and people are unfamiliar to him. The 36-year-old globe-trotting Indian musician Benny Prasad, no doubt, is indeed a unique personality.
Benny Prasad playing “Bentar” at one of his recent solo performances
In six years, 6 months and 22 days he has crisscrossed virtually every known country in the world and is a member of the World Records of Academy in Miami.
The solo guitarist is currently on his 13th passport and travelled to 194 sovereign nations and 51 dependent territories, besides the Antarctic.
Currently on a whirlwind visit of Doha, his second in about eight years, Prasad conducted his solo performance in front of a private gathering of several nationalities yesterday evening.
“I travel across the world, recollecting my own experiences of more than two decades and narrate to inspire those who have lost all hopes and aspirations in life through my musical performance. I tell those unfortunate people not to give up even when all odds are against them,” said Prasad.
Son of an aerospace scientist, Prasad was a disaster as a youngster as far as his academics were concerned despite his father’s remarkable efforts to give him maths and science lessons.
As a severe asthmatic, with more than 60% of his lungs damaged and a weakened immune system, he was driven to unsuccessfully attempt to end life when he was barely 16.
“However, a divine experience made a remarkable transformation on me and since then I have never ever been my earlier self,” recollected the musician, who brings together a rare combination of Indian classical and American jazz.
“Perhaps I am the only person in the whole world carrying a guitar which is equipped with a unique drum,” said Prasad while recalling how he took over the guitar which was found abandoned at an unattended corner at the college in Bangalore where he studied.
Prasad is now credited with designing two guitars, one believed to be the world’s first bongo guitar and the other – Bentar – as it is called that he mostly carries along with him during his tours. This year he has no “free day” in the second half starting today. Among his forthcoming visits this month would be visits to London, Estonia and some countries in South America.
“Whatever they may be, records are meant to be broken and they have never influenced or fascinated me ever so far,” he says while pointing out that many of those feats mentioned in the books of records are just nothing more than records for the sake.
“The issue of records came to me in 2010 when someone found it by sheer coincidence that I visited as many as 245 countries, which included 51 dependent states as well,” he said. Then I realised that it would be a meaningful attempt if this was pointed out to those concerned as I had all my travels recorded in my 13 passports, all of which he still carries during his sojourns.
My travels taught me that there are many countries that are hostile to each other but what struck me most was the love showered on me by the people of those countries which were considered to be “rival” territories, said the guitarist while recalling the reception that he was accorded by people in Karachi.
“I made as many as 334 telephone calls to Pakistan embassy in New Delhi and people across that nation for a visa but all were in vain. However, a chance meeting with the Speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan at a national celebration in North Korea eased all hurdles and a single telephone call from him to their New Delhi embassy landed me with a visa to tour that country. Six hours after securing the visa, I was on a PIA flight to Pakistan,” recollected Prasad who toured Karachi in 2009.
“What I have learnt most from my journeys is that there are good and bad people everywhere, even in countries which one dislikes. There have been instances of being demanded a bribe in seemingly good countries as well as being treated so well by people of countries, generally regarded as ‘bad’ .”