Chennai: Cassandra Mae Spittmann, a 21-year-old German singer-songwriter famous for her soulful renditions of Indian devotional songs, found her audience on Tuesday in none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as she sang for him a popular bhajan dedicated to Lord Krishna.
Mae, who was mentioned and lauded before by PM Modi in the 105th episode of his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme, visited the Prime Minister along with her mother in Palladam, a town in Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur district.
In her melodious voice, she sang ‘Achyutam Keshavam’ — meaning ‘immortal or indestructible’ and ‘Keshavam’ meaning one who has long hair and killed demon Keshi.
Hearing the visually-impaired singer with rapt attention, PM Modi also played the beats on the table, cheering and clapping for her as she finished singing.
Mae, who sings in languages such as Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Urdu, Assamese, Bengali, Sanskrit, and Kannada, also sang the ‘Ram Aayenge’ (Ram will come) bhajan ahead of the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya in January this year.
“This rendition by Cassandra Mae Spittmann from Germany, whom I once referred to during #MannKiBaat, will make you very happy,” PM Modi said on X as he shared Mae’s bhajan.
Earlier PM Modi had shared a video of Mae singing ‘Vaishnava Jana To’ on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
Introducing her during Mann Ki Baat, the PM had said Mae’s efforts are going to captivate every Indian, adding that “Indian culture and Indian music are now global and more and more people worldwide are getting attracted to them”.
He then shared two of Mae’s songs — ‘Jagat Jaana Palam’, in praise of Lord Vishnu, and a Kannada song.
Mae started learning African drumming at the age of three and was introduced to Indian music about five years ago.
PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra to inaugurate and lay foundation for several developmental projects.
–IANS