As a young nun, Sr. Sheila was attracted to the movement of Indianizing liturgy and music that Dharmaram College in Bengaluru initiated in the 1960s. The musical part of the movement found a general audience through the first LP record of CHRISTIAN BHAJANS (Deccan Records, Bengaluru; see Palackal 1979), a watershed in the history of Christian music in India. The LP contained several tracks that anyone, irrespective of religious affiliations, could sing. Remarkably, the second side of the LP started with the sacred syllable OM, which caused much disappointment among conservative Catholics in Kerala. Several lyrics referred to the universal God, the antaryamin (indwelling presence) in all peoples and creatures.

Stylistically, “Karunamrutham” is a sequel to the “Christian Bhajans” LP. All the lyrics were intended for interreligious prayer gatherings rather than for the context of exclusive Christian worship. The prayers addressed the universal God. Most of the melodies were set in a call-response style. Sr. Sheila was well aware of the criticism against the Christian Bhajans LP for using the sacred syllable in OM. Nonetheless, Sr. Sheila decided to use OM in the opening track of Karunamrutham.

As a young nun, Sr. Sheila was attracted to the movement of Indianizing liturgy and music that Dharmaram College in Bengaluru initiated in the 1960s. The musical part of the movement found a general audience through the first LP record of CHRISTIAN BHAJANS (Deccan Records, Bengaluru; see Palackal 1979), a watershed in the history of Christian music in India. The LP contained several tracks that anyone, irrespective of religious affiliations, could sing. Remarkably, the second side of the LP started with the sacred syllable OM, which caused much disappointment among conservative Catholics in Kerala. Several lyrics referred to the universal God, the antaryamin (indwelling presence) in all peoples and creatures.

Stylistically, “Karunamrutham” is a sequel to the “Christian Bhajans” LP. All the lyrics were intended for interreligious prayer gatherings rather than for the context of exclusive Christian worship. The prayers addressed the universal God. Most of the melodies were set in a call-response style. Sr. Sheila was well aware of the criticism against the Christian Bhajans LP for using the sacred syllable in OM. Nonetheless, Sr. Sheila decided to use OM in the opening track of Karunamrutham.

The commercial success of Karunamrutham surprised Sr. Sheila and everyone involved in the production. By the end of 1988, Sr. Sheila was ready with another set of lyrics for recording. Again, Sr. Sheila invited me to be cocomposer. The pre-recorded cassette NAADAARCHANA was released as part of the celebration of the silver jubilee of Mercy College. Meanwhile, the demand for Karunamrutham bhajans increased and three years after the release of the cassette, Sr. Sheila released a CD version. That set the stage for a long musical journey for Sr. Sheila. She never looked back. Later, Sr. Sheila became bolder and more adventurous in attempting the production of bhajans in Hindi and English. The albums brought Sr. Sheila’s extraordinary talents to light and gave her a forum to promote her brand of music spirituality.

In 1999, Sr. Sheila resonated with the idea of a Christian Musicological Society of India operating from Acharya Palackal JeevassKendram at Aluva in Kerala. We held the meetings of the Society at JeevassKendram. After two years, we wanted to expand the geographical and linguistic domains of the Society to other parts of India. Sr. Sheila took the initiative to organize a planning session at DharmaramVidayaKshetram in Bengaluru. Although the meeting was successful, we did not create enough enthusiasm to continue the mission. It remains a dream. Sr. Sheila an unusual entrepreneur

In the 1980s and even now, engaging in commercial recording and releasing Christian devotional songs have not been an easy venture for a Catholic nun. More than musical talents, such activities required intense involvement in organizing many people in different realms of the music industry. Sr. Sheila was able to strike a balance primarily because of the support she received from her local superiors and close friends, as well as her talented students. All the female voices in the albums were students from Mercy College. In this respect, the name of Sr. Ezekiel, CMC, the principal of Mercy College, deserves special mention. Sr. Ezekiel understood the sincerity of Sr. Sheila and gave her complete support, knowing fully well that Sr. Sheila’s success only added to the fame and glory of Mercy College and the Jai Christo province of the CMC sisters. Moreover, Sr. Sheila excelled in her official duties as professor of English literature. Sr. Ezekiel could see that Sr. Sheila’s lyrics and music were not an empty intellectual exercise but the overflow of her intimate experience of Jesus.

It seems that Jesus, too, was appreciative of Sr. Sheila’s musical mission on earth and rewarded her with an invitation to join the angels in heaven in 2009, on the auspicious day of the Assumption of His mother.

Sr. Sheila became a trailblazer by employing her God-given talents and, like the faithful servant in the Gospel, multiplied those talents manifold. She designed a forum for music spirituality through the art form of Bhajans. On the one hand, Sr. Sheila built on the foundation of Christian Bhajans that the Dharmaram College and Deccan Records promoted but went further by taking the bhajans to interreligious prayer gatherings at Mercy College and other venues. Sr. Sheila utilized the intrinsic power of the bhajan format to combine sound and silence. Music for Sr. Sheila was a means to express her Christ experience. The tiny seed of faith in Jesus that her parents planted in her childhood and the CMC congregation nurtured grew into a large tree with extended branches providing ample shade of divine blessings to many young people from different religious backgrounds. In retrospect, one can only marvel at how a Catholic nun under the constraints of the convent life accomplished so much while employing music to enrich her personal life and empowering so many young women in Kerala. Sr. Sheila deserves at least a footnote in the larger history of Christian music in India. Christian Musicological Society is grateful to Sr. Sheila for her unstinted cooperation during the initial stages of its formation.