The Singing Nun

Ani Choying Drolma joined a monastery to escape her father’s beatings and found a voice that has now got Warner Brothers lining up

Her voice is like a balm for the soul. It calms the tempestuous storms within. Her deep, sonorous voice, as she chants traditional Tibetan mantras, washes over you in waves. Ani Choying Drolma can’t remember a time when music wasn’t part of her life. Lovingly nicknamed the ‘Singing Nun’ by her fans from across the globe, she was brought into the limelight in 1994 by musician Steve Tibbets after he heard her sing at Nepal’s Nagi Gompa monastery. From then on, the world has been her stage, as Ani has recorded more than 10 albums since and performed in countries such as Brazil, China, Singapore, Russia, France and the US.

Her petite frame belies the strength within. She says she has changed a lot from the young girl who was battered by her father to a confident young woman who doesn’t shrink from taking tough decisions. Ani admits that when she joined the monastery to escape her father’s daily beatings, she was like a wild young colt, ready to fight at the slightest provocation. “I had an attitude problem; there was so much negativity and arrogance within me. Slowly, I transformed under the guidance of my guru, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. I became more humble,” says Ani, who performed in Delhi recently.

Ani’s path to musical stardom hasn’t been easy. She faced severe criticism from other Buddhist monks who berated her for singing traditional mantras publicly. For advice, she turned to her guru, who told her that music is all-powerful and benefits all those who listen. In her heart, Ani believed that she was doing a good thing and refused to get bogged down by all the criticism.

The biggest challenge in life has been learning how to forgive. And now that she has achieved that, one can sense this calm contentment about her. “As my emotional age has grown, I have less curiosity about life. Curiosity can sometimes lead to chaos. Things have become more simplified and I have learnt to appreciate that simplicity,” she says.

Though Ani’s parents came to Nepal from Tibet, she doesn’t consider herself a refugee. She doesn’t know much of the life back home, as her parents never talked about it much. “My two younger brothers and I were born in Nepal and I consider myself an integral part of this country,” she asserts.

Her voice assumes a steely tone while talking about the status of women across the world. Ani can’t help but feel angry when she sees girls being forced into submissive roles. “Women are capable of bigger and better things than simply cooking and cleaning. In my family too, my brothers were given special treatment. I also wanted to play, run around and have new toys,” she says.

What she really enjoys are movies that celebrate woman power. For her, small things like a woman running a shop or a young girl standing up for herself are acts of liberation. She herself isn’t shy of breaking convention. She started driving at a time when very few women were seen behind the wheel. For her, that was a way of asserting her independence. “As a kid, I had an ignorant desire to beat up boys. Thank God that’s subsided now. My sole ambition was to be the next Bruce Lee. I was even teased as Bruce Lee’s sister,” she laughs.

Now that Ani looks back, she feels that if she had had access to higher education she might have been a pilot or police officer. But at that time, the easiest alternative was to be a nun as she didn’t want to be forced into marriage.

Ani has devoted her life to bringing nuns out of their shadows. Under the monastery’s tutelage, she realised that injustices were taking place in her own backyard. Buddhist nuns weren’t given access to higher academic studies like the monks were. In 2000, Ani decided to take matters into her own hand and started the Arya Tara School. Its mission was to fully develop and realise the potential of each nun so that she could serve the community in a professional and humanitarian way. “The idea came to me long ago, but I had no resources to back it up. But when I first performed in the US in 1998, I said to myself, ‘Now that you make money, it’s time to realise a long-cherished dream’,” she remembers. 

In the past ten years, the school has grown from strength to strength and is currently home to nearly 67 young nuns. “I didn’t get the chance to study further. So I fulfil all my wishes through these bright young minds. I help them sing, dance, read; whatever their heart desires,” smiles Ani.  

Her time spent in school has added a new dimension to her life. It has made her rejoice even more in what she does. Added to that is the love and adoration of the audience. Ani’s voice has a way of speaking directly to you; it feels as if the song will take away all the despair and sadness in your life. This actually happened to a gentleman in France, suffering from Parkinson’s. For four years, he had never spent a moment without shaking. But his shaking stopped while he was at Ani’s concert. “The most beautiful comment ever came from a 17-year-old boy in Nepal. He said that he had been a bad boy. He did drugs, got into fights, didn’t study. But when he heard me sing, something changed. He got out of his bad habits and began to study. I told him that you are the only one who can change yourself, but I am glad to be the excuse. It is experiences like these that make me go, like wow…these are the people who add meaning to my life,” she reflects.

The next couple of months are going to be extremely busy for Ani. She has back-to-back concerts lined up in Germany and Switzerland and a new album likely to be launched at the end of April. However, the thing that has got her really excited is a Warner Brothers project called Faith United that will feature Ani along with a rabbi, Catholic priest, Sufi artiste and an Indian Classical singer. “I don’t say I have the best voice in the world. But I sing with hope and devotion, without fear,” says this talented musician who turned 40 this year. As for her birthday wish, she hopes that she will get to meet Amitabh Bachchan and work with Gulzar someday. “Amitabhji grows more and more attractive with age,” she laughs. “As for Gulzar sahib, his style of writing really inspires me and his philosophy is very similar to mine. I simply loved Koi Baat Chale that featured him with Jagjit Singh. I hope that someday he will write for me; fingers crossed till then,” smiles Ani.

Ani Choying DrolmamonasteryTibet