Sabrina is such a woman of accomplishment in her own right," says Sathyam Setlur, 66, sitting back in a chair in his spacious living room in his new house in Bangalore. "Does it take a Boris Becker to come along, to put her into the international limelight? If only she had been singing in a language that the whole world was familiar with, she would have been a household name, for her own talent, long ago."

The first stage performer in the Setlur family, the man who magician Gogia Pasha once used to make disappear on stage, has now returned to his roots in Bangalore after living for three decades in Germany. His younger brother Krishnan, who is the father of rap songstress Sabrina Setlur, 27, will probably never return here to retire, though, since both Sabrina and her younger sister Yvonne, 23, a rising tennis star, are more German in lifestyle than Indian.

"It was a conscious decision on the part of my sister-in-law Theresa to make the children integrate fully into German society and culture, since they were born and brought up there," says Sathyam. "They speak only German at home. Sabrina knows English well too. But Indian languages, not really: she speaks a few words of Malayalam, since her mother is from near Kozhikode. Theresa herself wears only Western clothes. So does Sabrina, of course."

Sabrina no longer lives with her parents, Krishnan who is a banker like Sathyam was, and Theresa, who continues to practise her vocation as a nurse. "We hear she is virtually under house arrest now," says Sathyam, who is in daily touch with his brother Krishnna by email and occasionally telephone. "This is because she is so besieged by the papparazzi, ever since her friendship with Becker became public."

And just how does her family, with its strong South Indian Brahmin, conservative roots, feel about her ongoing romance? "They are adults, after all, and free to do whatever they choose to do," says Sathyam philosophically. "The family does have mixed feelings, though," says his wife Srimathi, who also lived in Germany for decades and speaks and reads German fluently. "However, Sabrina is very German in her outlook and attitudes, so she is in full control of her life."

This branch of the Setlur family is from Coimbatore, in the sense that Krishnan and Sathyam's father was an advocate living there. They are, by origin, Hebbar Iyengars from Karnataka, speaking a dialect that is a mix of Tamil and Kannada. Their roots go back, in some way, to Bangalore, where Sathyam now lives: Their great grandfather N T Shamanna was a well known lawyer in Bangalore long ago. His progeny shifted to Madras and from there to Coimbatore.

Krishnan, Sathyam and their seven other siblings all grew up in Coimbatore. It was a keen desire for adventure and travel that took the Setlur brothers out of Tamil Nadu and overseas, one by one. Sathyam's elder brother was working in Germany. So he too went to Europe to seek his fortune. He soon wound up as stage assistant of the internationally famous magician Gogia Pasha, who used to hypnotise him and make him disappear on stage.

Sathyam, who has a penchant for languages, learnt to speak Finnish fluently in the six months he spent touring Finland with Pasha, and was quite a draw with his brown skin and strange accent, for the shows. Then, he moved to Germany in 1960, and got a bank job there. Sathyam lived in Germany from 1960 to 1996, coming home often in between, and marrying Srimathi from the same community somewhere along the way. Srimathi worked at Stuttgart University for many years before she moved to Bangalore with her children, whom she wanted to rear in an Indian environment. Sathyam followed much later. The couple has two children, both professionals happily married to other Indians.

Krishnan completed a basic arts degree from a government college in Coimbatore and moved to Germany seven years after Sathyam, to join the same bank, the American Express Bank. It was while he working there that he met a pretty young Malayali nurse, Theresa, who comes from a village near Kozhikode in Kerala. Theresa too had a Bangalore connection in the sense that she worked at St Martha's hospital before she got a job in Italy and then later in Germany.

Krishnan and Theresa got married in Bangalore, when they were on a visit back home, in 1973. Sabrina is their eldest born. She was first named Jayanthi, after Krishnan's mother, but the name became too difficult for her to sustain in school in Germany. So her parents changed it to the more easily understood Sabrina. Until she shot to fame, Sabrina used to visit India on and off. She has even visited her mother's village in Kerala, and her maternal family, a decade ago.

"Since she became famous, she has not had the time to come to India," says Sathyam. "But she did tell us she hopes to come down some time this year. I suppose she will have to wait for the heat to go off her present situation for her to be able to make any decision about her travel plans." Sabrina was always interested in music, says the man who watched her grow in Germany. She got into music around about the time she was at pre-university, or arbitur, as it is known there.

Her singing caught the attention of the music company MCA and they put her into a music group, where she was known as Shwester S or SS for short (shwester means sister.)

Later, Sabrina switched to Sony, where she had to change her performing name. Since her own initials, SS for Sabrina Setlur, were close enough to what she had been known all along, she started going by her own name after that. Sabrina has now formed her own music company and younger sister Yvonne is its manager.

Sathyam regrets not having been able to see her perform since he left Germany five years ago. "I have seen just one show of hers and she was just terrific," says this fond uncle. "I would like to see her again now." They do watch video tapes of her, sent by her parents, whenever possible, though, and look out for her on MTV here, but have not seen her yet on television. Sathyam and Srimathi also take great pains to procure German magazines and newspapers, to read all the latest media reports about Sabrina.

Sathyam and Srimathi say they heard it was through her music company that Sabrina came into contact with Becker. The two were in Monaco at the same time some weeks ago for some event, and supposedly were lodged in the same hotel. This is when their friendship blossomed.

What kind of a person is Sabrina? "Bold, dashing, intelligent, dynamic and compassionate," is how Sathyam describes her. He recollects one episode when his family had already left for India, and he himself was winding up his affairs there before returning to Bangalore for good. He was suddenly beset by a serious wheezing attack. He promptly called up sister-in-law Theresa to find out what he should do. She was not home, but Sabrina was.

"Call the emergency medical service immediately," said Sabrina, after hearing Sathyam gasping over the telephone. "I will," said Sathyam and was just looking through the yellow pages five minutes when Sabrina called back. "You still haven't got them?" she demanded. "Oh forget it, I will call them and have them call on you at once." A few minutes later, emergency medical help was with Sathyam.

The entire family is very happy with Sabrina's musical success. Srimathi speaks with pride about her having been given a Golden Camera award when two million of her CDs were sold some time back. She loves listening to her hit CD and its title track Du Liebst Mich Nicht (You Don't Love Me). "I think she is a very helpful and understanding young woman," says Srimathi. However, they feel great regret that when Sabrina's love life gets more publicity than the cultural Skyline Prize she has just been awarded, by the SPD, the ruling party in Germany

"I now wish the media would stop paying so much attention to her friendship with Becker, and allow her to get along with her life," says Sathyam. "Knowing Sabrina, I am sure she would like to, say, do a special concert in aid of the Gujarat earthquake. Do you know she was in Turkey when the quake hit that country? But first the media should let her live in peace."

What is their last word on her association with Becker? "Sabrina was a national celebrity in Germany much before she ever met Becker," says Srimathi. "Her association with him has just hit the headlines because he is internationally known."

Adds Sathyam: "She is a successful singer and professional with a strong individual identity of her own. We do not really know exactly what her relationship is with Becker. But whatever it is, and whichever way it ends, we do not think it will make much of a difference to Sabrina's life because she has a great future ahead of her in music, which has always been her first love."

Design: Dominic Xavier

EXTERNAL LINKS:
Sabrina!
Sabrina, unplugged

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