Adnan Sami who had been in news for quite sometime due to the recent controversies, had applied for Indian citizenship in May 26, 2015 and had finally became an Indian citizen on 1st January 2016, giving up Pakistan’s citizenship. As soon as he became an India citizen, he turned his back towards Pakistan and did everything possible to fit in India.
Big Congratulations to @PMOIndia & our brave Armed forces for a brilliant, successful & mature strategic strike against #terrorism ! #Salute
— Adnan Sami (@AdnanSamiLive) September 29, 2016
In conversation with Deccan Chronicle, Adnan speaking about his musical journey said: “I started playing piano at the age of five, and that was without my parent’s knowledge because they had asked me not to even touch the piano,” he laughed and added, “However, when my father came to know about my interest in music he supported me throughout.”
Reminiscing about his struggle to lose weight he said “I was never apologetic about how I looked. Because my relationship with my audience was of music and I always managed to please them. But, the change came in when my father took me to a doctor for a general check-up and after going through all my reports the doctor said that, it wouldn’t surprise him if my parents found me dead in a hotel room someday. When we were back at home, my father told me that he didn’t want me to die before him. My father has been my greatest inspiration and support system, and him saying this was a wake-up call for me.”
At last when asked about his decission of taking Indian Citizenship Adnan said: “I am a very emotional person. Koi mujhse pyaar se jaan maang le, toh woh bhi de dun. Indians have given me immense and unconditional love and I am very grateful. That was why I decided to apply for an Indian citizenship”
Earlier this year in an interview with Times of India Adnan said: I waited a decade and a half for it. When you have been wanting, aspiring for something for years and you feel in your mind that you are completely ready for it, you are in a state of numbness because you can’t believe that it is finally happening. I have lived in different parts of the world and experienced a lot of things, but there are certain moments in your life which are life-changing, this is one of those, it is a milestone. Even though I have lived here for a decade and a half, there is nothing that I can express to tell you what it feels like because it is something that is phenomenal. Having said that, I will look at it from another perspective also. I have always believed that there is no such thing as coincidence and I have always believed in destiny. After this experience, I am now a believer beyond a shadow of doubt.
My belief in destiny was absolutely well founded because I was born on August 15 — look at the irony, it could have been 14th, but no, He made sure I was born on the 15th of August — so that was the hint number one. And then I went to study in England and when I was doing my A-levels, I had to write a thesis in history on any world leader. I could have chosen Napoleon, George Washington… I chose Gandhi, that’s hint number two. A lot of people were like “are you sure you are going to be doing that” and I said “yeah, I have an admiration for him so I did that.” I read every possible book that I had, starting from ‘My Experiments With Truth’.
And then God felt, yaar, he still doesn’t get it, go and shift him over there, so He made me shift here and created a home for me which I felt was as home as it gets. And then He created the desire in me that I want to be here because I spiritually belong here. Today I can speak with conviction that all those things were not coincidence. There was the Lord above, constantly nudging me — ‘you are at the wrong place, you have another destiny’ — and it was here and that’s why I kept pushing for it. My wife is from Germany, for example. I could have gone to Germany, but I wanted to go for India. I feel that a certain quest was there right from my birth, it’s just that the paperwork took 46 years. I am reminded of a beautiful dialogue in the film Gandhi when he is sitting on the edge of the sea, he turns around to Martin Sheen and he says, “I have travelled so far and all I have done is come home.” That was a beautiful line, and I feel so much like that today. I have travelled so far, I have lived all over the world, and all I have done is come home, that’s a beautiful feeling.
Rimsha Butt