June 15, 2013: Today I received the sad news that Zara had passed away last week. She is now in the embrace of the Universal spirit.
We met on the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal a few years ago.
We were a small group of disenfranchised souls: an artist, an English teacher, an aspiring Indian musician, a French Indophile, a GI on R & R from Afghanistan, a Czech painter, a French film editor, a writer and Zara.
There were no grating opinions, aimless chatter or discussions on the mundanities of existence…just euphoria…a celebration of living.
Every night we would meet…Zara serenading the motley group with her acoustic guitar… Her voice straddling the night air and reverberating in our souls. She had a pure voice. Words strung out in a melody that celebrated life. Her song Nowhere to run to was received by all for it touched our hearts.
Zara had a zest for life that mocked me…someone who hid behind the excuses of a lifetime. It was a cathartic time for me as I had just lost everything that I held dear. Her voice, her spirit comforted my tortured soul.
On a day when everything seemed perfect I interviewed her. She spoke passionately about her art form. For someone going through a cathartic experience she gave me hope…hope in my art.
You are a blessed soul, Zara, and I wish I was there for you. I wish I was there to hold your hand and lead you back to a world you showed me…a world with all the paradoxes…a beautiful enchanted world.
I hope you are at peace now in the warm embrace of your Maker. You were too young, too talented to have been taken away so soon.
My prayers are for you tonight as I sit here contemplating the joy of living and the futility of death.
– Mark Ulyseas
Here is a link to Zara’s latest composition :Fickle Arms” – http://vimeo.com/2744667
http://marculyseas.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/zara-sophia-%E2%80%93-an-english-minstrel-of-dawn/
https://myspace.com/zarasophia
http://www.rightchordmusic.co.uk/tribute-to-zara-sophia-gone-but-never-forgotten/
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