A degree doesn’t make a great human being

Kailash Kher on why he couldn’t pursue education as he revels in a successful music career


Ians July 25, 2015
Kailash is currently working on an untitled album with his band Kailasa. PHOTO: FILE

NEW DELHI: Kailash Kher, who couldn’t pursue a degree at Delhi University, doesn’t regret the fact that he could only do a correspondence course there. The singer of Teri Deewani fame, 42, said that when he spent time in the capital, he had too many things on his plate and couldn’t focus on just studies. It made him conscious at first, but he has moved past it now.

I used to feel a bit awkward earlier because I didn’t study properly. Now, it’s ok. I’ve met so many people … degree-holders, but they aren’t necessarily great human beings,” said Kher, who received the Yash Bharti Award from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav earlier this year.

Read: ‘I feel small in front of such a big film’

Kailash, who hails from Meerut, shared that he used to “have a complex” earlier, but after getting invited by institutes, such as the Indian Institute of Management and the Indian Institute of Technology, to give motivational speeches, he realised that a degree doesn’t matter. “A real degree is about your character. I don’t regret [not studying in a college] at all. God has given me something bigger to enlighten the world with. So, instead of regretting, I’m thankful,” he said.

Despite having achieved the stature he once struggled for, Kailash feels he still doesn’t have time to go back to college. “At that time, money wasn’t the only concern. There was time constraint too,” he stated. “I was looking after my parents and trying to earn money to survive ... you know how students try to do things for pocket money and I was also trying to learn music. So, I couldn’t concentrate on one thing. Unfortunately, I don’t have time now either,” he further said.



For now, he’s revelling in the love showered on him by his fans for lending his vocals to songs, such as Jal Rahi Hain and Kaun Hain Voh for SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Baahubali: The Beginning. “Baahubali is not like any other project for me. I was honoured, amazed and overwhelmed to be a part of it before the film got released and became a super hit,” noted Kailash.

“We always believe that music heals people. In this particular film, I have also sung Shiv Tandav Stotram. There’s a scientific connect to it. If you listen to the tune and production of the sound, it has a wave that connects with each one of us ... in our breathing and senses.” Kailash considers this as one of the best works of his career so far. The musician, who has given hit Bollywood songs, such as Allah Ke Bande and Mangal Mangal, said, “I definitely loved it the most ... after Mangal Pandey: The Rising, [this is] the kind of music that gave me goosebumps while singing.”

Lauding Baahubali’s storyline, he lamented that most films in India depict the country in a bad light. “Movies that have won the Oscar so far with India as a subject haven’t glorified our tradition and culture. Most of them show our country’s poverty or helplessness. So, this way, India’s image has become that of a third-world country where only poor people reside,” he said. He feels Baahubali deserves “all the awards in the world” as it’s not just the music but also the storytelling that’s worth commending. “It’s a piece of art,” said the singer, who’s currently working on an untitled album with his band Kailasa

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2015.

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