The world awaits, in adulation, the historic canonisation of the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Mother Teresa, on September 4 at the Vatican. It will also be a very special moment for popular singer Usha Uthup, who has had a 47 year long association with the Mother, when she sings at the event. Much as she is thrilled about being invited she is philosophic.
“I am absolutely thrilled, having known Mother as long as I have been singing. Some of us who have walked with her, talked with her, worked with her, this will be an experience of a lifetime.” Usha also had the opportunity of being present at the Mother’s beatification in 2003 by the late Pope John Paul. “So to be there for her canonisation, when the world will acknowledge her as a saint, is wonderful. In her prime I felt, like many others did, that she was a saint already but it is something else when she is formally declared so and the world acknowledges this.”
Usha will be singing two songs on the pious occasion - The Poorest of The Poor , a song composed by her on the day when Mother Teresa passed away. “I sang it right through the period when her body was kept at Loretto House. The other will be a Bengali song- Lakh lakh, hazar hazar , with lyrics by Sunil Baran.”
Recalling the days when the Mother would invite her to sing to the nuns at Mother House, or to the children at Shishu Bhavan or to the old age home, Prem Daan, Usha says, “Mother loved listening to Beautiful Sunday and I Believe in Music . I used to sing songs in Tamil and Malayalam too for the nuns. She enjoyed the hymns Amazing Grace , Come Abide With Me and Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross .”
Much as Usha is popular for her singing she has carved a special place for herself as a style icon. So what will she be wearing for the occasion? In keeping with the divinity and solemnity of the event Usha will wear Tussar silk sari in colours of the Mother - off white and blue.
“I am really happy that I have got this opportunity. I feel Mother is the one who is orchestrating this for me,” said Usha over phone from Kolkata.
