BENGALURU: Sadanand Kurdikeri, a bank clerk in JP Nagar, is perhaps the biggest fan of the legendary singer Kishore Kumar. He says Kumar’s songs taught him about life, motivating him to overcome his problems.Twenty years ago, Sadanand lost his father to cancer. He was also taking care of his bed-ridden mother, mentally challenged brother and sister-in-law who lost her son. He says, “I felt helpless. That's when I remembered a song by Kishore Kumar that talks about facing the challenges in life.” He realised his problems were not as big when he saw the problems of others. “I decided to sing Kishore Kumar songs to pay tribute to him and spread awareness about cancer,” he says. There has ben no looking back since.
“I wanted to perform at Kala Bhavan in Dharwad where Kishore Kumar got married and I got a chance in 2005. I sang to about 4,000 people there,” he says. “When you organise a cancer awareness programme, hardly 50 to 100 people attend, but the moment you include a musical tribute, almost everyone in town turns up. I invite doctors to give talks on cancer in between performances.”
He collects donations at his programmes and contributes the proceeds towards treatment of cancer patients and other needy people. “I collect money from the audience and ask one of the members to come on stage and count it so that everyone knows how much was raised. I then hand it over to the doctors or patients for treatment. I also distribute fruits to them. Recently, I performed for 100 children at Kidwai Hospital and distributed fruits worth `10,000,” he says. He claims that he has raised `4.5 lakh for cancer patients through his programmes so far.
Sadanand also organises blood donation camps and rallies for creating more awareness on social issues. He also established MK Square Foundation in 2015 to help the needy. The name, MK, stands for 'melodious king', Kishore Kumar's title.
Sadanand says that like Kishore Kumar, he is also an untrained singer. “I listen to his songs and practise at least 50 songs a day. I was personally invited twice to Kishore Kumar's house in Mumbai by his family. His fourth wife Leena Chandavarkar is from Dharwad. She says I am the only one who keeps organising musical tributes to her husband,” he says.
On asking him about his favourite song, he says, “Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Roop Tera Mastana... I have many favourites.”In the future, he plans on organising more such concerts to raise awareness specifically on breast cancer.