Benny Prasad has some impressive numbers to boast of. Fourteen passports. Fifty countries a year. And 300 shows in 365 days. The musician has performed for the Olympics, for Presidents of various countries and for students and prisoners. And he does it all — one hundred per cent by himself. No team, no entourage, no manager. “I do all my concert bookings on my own,” he states up front when asked. In Chennai on Saturday to conduct a workshop on how to push yourself and make great music, he adds in a matter-of-fact tone, “I’m booked throughout 2013 and right now I’m actually working on my schedule for 2014.” What started over a decade ago, continues at a pace that doesn’t seem it will slow down any time soon. “Why should I? I’m not tired,” he says simply. Running close to 40 now, you have to wonder where in the heavens he gets all that stamina from. “Oh that’s easy,” Benny responds breezily. “Most people cannot relax when they’re travelling. But me,” he goes on, “Whenever I’m travelling, I’m resting.” He adds with a smile, “You see that’s the only time I get to rest.”
When he isn’t jet setting, performing or sharing his motivational story – he’s meeting people, praying for people or working on his music. “Most people ask me where I get the money to travel so much,” he admits. With every one of his concerts being a ‘free’ of cost and even his CD charges decided upon by patrons – he lets on that his funding lies partly in album fees and the rest in donations. Offhandedly, one asks — what has been his most expensive CD sold? “`65,000,” Benny responds without batting an eyelid. It sounds like the most natural thing in the world when he says it.
He jokes at this point, “People tell me: ‘You’ve travelled to every country in the world. How come you haven’t met the right woman yet?” To which he answers: “That’s true. But at least I’ve managed to keep the wrong one away.” We share a laugh before he gets serious a moment later. “It’s not that I don’t want to get married but what I do, the countries I visit – Pakistan, Iran, South Korea – it’s risky business.” In the past, when parents of suitors had approached him, he recalls having asked disturbing questions such as – ‘Would my wife be willing to die with me out in the field, because I am...’ Incidentally, Benny performed for the prisoners at a jail in Mauritania, Africa recently. Two weeks later, he got a phone call – his friend who had organised the trip had been shot at his home by a terror group.
But that doesn’t stop Benny from continuing his year-round gospel tour all the same. “I want to show people that there is more to life than climbing the ladder and making more money,” the nomad-evangelist shares his vision. “And I’m not here to build empire,” he clarifies. What keeps a man driven enough to cross continents and sing with his guitar almost every single day of the year? “I don’t know, I’m just going with the flow,” smiles Benny. Divine direction, one concert stage at a time.
(Benny Prasad will conduct a workshop, at the Unwind Center, Dev apartments, 1st Main Rd, Kasturibai Nagar, Adyar, on Saturday at 7pm. For details, contact 9841379494.)