Clifford Richards is a renowned personality in the media industry. His notable and excellent onstage performances have stolen the heart of many of us. His voice aired on the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation has marked a special note in the listeners’ ears and now as a presenter on TV, a compeer and as a singer on stage, Richards outshines any show where he is presenting and receives immense admiration from the public. On behalf of the fans of Clifford Richards, Sunday Observer caught up a glimpse of his life which lesser-known by many.
Excerpts
Q: Yoga plays a major role in your life. Tell me how it all started?
A: I was into Yoga for over six years. Yoga started accidentally just like compeering. Six years back I was compeering a Yoga program at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute which was conducted by Anoja Weerasinghe who is a dedicated Yoga teacher. I never had a good impression of Yoga. Then what happened during the program inspired me to learn it from a scratch. That is how I became interested in the subject.
I went to India for further training in Yoga. There, I learned Hatha Yoga for one month. Hatha Yoga is more conventional. It is a traditional form of Yoga. The benefits you gain from practising poses and Asanas are multiple. It helps the brain and mind function properly. It makes a person healthy physically and mentally. This is why Yoga differs from other forms of exercise. The main motive of Yoga is to bring mindfulness, focus on one place and enjoy the present moment.
Q: How does it regulate the form of a person?
A: ”Hatha Yoga focuses on breathing. Breathing is important as your entire life relies on it. About 99 percent of the people don’t breathe correctly depriving your body of receiving oxygen. Likewise, there are a lot of things throughout the process that positively change you mentally. Attitude, stress levels, anger, all change. In the end, you gain the ability to survive even in a chaotic environment.”
Q: You have an appealing personality. What is the secret behind it?
A: “I have the attitude of being happy even amid turbulent circumstances. Being miserable or overthinking them is not a quality of mine, because nothing is perfect and you are not living in a perfect world. When here are things that we don’t like and out of our control, the best thing is to ignore them and move on with the flow. If you let the negative things affect you, that is the biggest crime that one could commit against oneself.
If something or someone else is affecting you, you are the one who loses your cool if you don’t handle it healthily. For example, let’s say someone is not treating you well. If you become upset, you are the one who gets affected. The other person will not lose anything. Here also, Yoga plays a major role in attitude correction. One must understand nowhere you will be able to find a place that fits you perfectly. There is always some misfit in the place where you are. You need to understand and accept that fact and live your life and continue what you were doing.
Q: Tell us what your roots are?
A: I started my education at Trinity College, Kandy. I pursued higher education at the University of Peradeniya as an engineering student. When I passed out, I did production engineering. After finishing my higher education, I couldn’t practise as an engineer as I joined a family business. My father-in-law has an orchid nursery and I got involved in that.
How singing, announcing and compeering started is a bit of a long story. During the school years, I was into singing, but I never was an announcer as I was a shy person. I have never done any public speaking at that time.
Compeering came by accident, such as Yoga. Some 25 years back I was in concert to perform as a singer. Suddenly, the organising committee found out that they didn’t have an announcer.
The person in charge asked me why I don’t take the opportunity. Reluctantly I said okay and however, I did it. Later on that day, I received a positive feedback that I did a good job. That is how my career as a compeer and announcer started.
Q: If anybody asked for a life tip, what would you give him?
A: We must remember that life is short. Make sure you never miss out on any fraction of time to enjoy it to the fullest. Because every second counts. It is worth remembering to take the correct path to the right destination.