Fiji-born musician Sumeet Tappoo, who has had a base in India’s Film and Music Industry, spoke to The Pioneer about his musical journey and his philanthropy.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
Sumeet Tappoo’s country of birth Fiji has a significant presence of people of Indian origin. His grandfather at the age of fourteen moved from Gujarat to Fiji in the 1930s under the then British rule. At one stage, fifty percent of Fiji’s population was inhabited by persons of Indian origin. The traditions, culture, and religion in his family are very deep-rooted and linked to India. His father is also a singer and as a child, he was exposed to classical, semi-classical, and film music from birth. So many interesting aspects!
And so, taking us through his childhood days, he said, “Since I was a child, it was a dream to have an opportunity to take up music as my profession and be based in this industry. Being in Fiji, this dream was far-fetched. The artists whom I idolized as a young boy are the same artists who I get to work with now! I have done devotional albums too and collaborations with my music mentor Anup Jalota as well alongside legends like Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, and Sadhana Sargam. I have done a ghazal album with the three legends of ghazals, Anup Jalota, Pankaj Udhas, and Talat Aziz. I feel truly blessed.”
Music has no language and no barriers. It transcends everything and is truly the language of the soul. All an artist has to do is connect to the music within and express it in the purest way possible. If one is true to their art, music finds its way into the heart of people. Today with the advent of online platforms, he is able to connect to music lovers globally.
He continued, “Getting educated and attaining a degree was important to my family and the values with which I have been brought up with. Having a music career was not a certainty, especially from the region I was born in. There is hardly anyone today from Fiji or Australia and New Zealand who is a professional artist in India. After completing my education is when I began considering music as a full-time career.”
You need to love what you do. He loves music and also loves making a difference in this world. He does both with passion. He is a devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and was mentored by Sri Madhusudan Sai. Their teachings of selfless love and selfless service reverberate in the inner core of his being. So for him, these aren’t separate. Music and philanthropy are one and the same. It’s an expression of love! He said, “I have been involved in philanthropy since a young child. I continue my humanitarian work globally. It was always a desire to give back to my home country Fiji. God gave me an opportunity to spearhead the biggest medical project in the history of Fiji — the development of the South Pacific’s first state-of-the-art Children’s Heart Hospital! The Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital provides all life-saving surgeries completely free of cost. The hospital doesn’t have a billing counter. So far, over 230 free life-saving heart surgeries have been done, and over 13,000 free echocardiograms. There is nothing more satisfying than this.”
The hospital in Fiji was built during covid. He was personally present at the construction site for 18 hours a day. Building in Fiji is a challenge in itself. Doing it during covid was even tougher. These challenges were overcome when there is that single-pointed pure desire to do good. When the intentions are noble, pure, and selfless, no power in the world can stop you. He continued, “For him, awards are a way that I pay gratitude to my guru for guiding me. I have always seen awards as an important tool to allow me to constantly improve and do better. Every award increases my desire to do even better than before. Every award from the Presidential Medal to Music Awards to Societal awards to my university awards are precious to me.”
He wants to grow as an artist and become better each day. He wants to serve more and more people around the world and make a difference in their lives. He wants to inspire others through his actions and work. He wants to leave a lasting legacy where the generations of tomorrow can be inspired. He is a simple human being. He doesn’t think he is special in any way. He wants people to say “If he can, so can I.”
He lives by the motto “Love music, Love all, and Serve all.”
