Reflections on Rajasekaran Jesudasan
January 13, 2026
We are deeply saddened by the loss of our dear friend Rajasekaran Jesudasan. Sekar has been connected to Oberlin Shansi since his days as a student at American College. Since, he has been a friend, collaborator, and guide for generations of Shansi Reps and Fellows.
Shansi’s Senior Director Ted Samuel was one of Sekar’s former students on the University of Wisconsin’s College Year in India Program in 2003-2004. He reflected, “Sekar was known as an artist, songwriter, and rock and roller extraordinaire... but for many in the Shansi community, he made Madurai feel like home. We will miss his talent, energy, and the joy he brought to any room and any stage.”
In addition to the outpouring of love and support from our community, below, we have also included a few fond reflections from those lucky enough to have crossed paths with Sekar over the years.
**Photographs are courtesy of Peter Mayer, Anne Richmond, and Ted Samuel.**
“I met Sekar my very first day in Madurai as I stepped off the Pandian Express with a guitar in my hand. Little did I know, this man would become one of the most important figures in my life. During my first few weeks in Madurai we played music together. Sekar wrote fantastic folk and rock songs in Tamil and loved the same music I did: the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Simon and Garfunkel. We formed a band with Zoe Sherinian on drums and Ravi Balraj on bass and our first performance was just a few weeks later. Rajasekaran and the Glass Bangles were then invited to perform for New Year Eve 86/87 at the Hotel Madurai Ashok. During my two years at American College, Sekar and I performed many times as a duo and with the full band. In 1988, a few weeks before leaving Madurai, we performed as an acoustic/electric duo in the American College main hall for a large group of students and faculty.
In 1990, after spending two years back in the US, I returned to Madurai with my wife, Amanda Bickel, and my musical adventures with Sekar continued. Rajasekaran and the Glass Bangles performed New Year's Eve concerts at the Madurai Ashok and we were invited to play two large outdoor shows in Kerala. In 1991 we recorded an album/cassette of Sekar's original and adapted Tamil songs called "Davani". The album included a Tamil version of the Talking Heads song "Psycho Killer" with Sekar's adapted lyrics. To our amazement, in 1992, David Byrne himself traveled to Bangalore to record an original song with a cinema orchestra and Sekar was asked to assist and facilitate his visit and the recording sessions. During their time together, Sekar was able to play the Tamil version of Psycho Killer for David Byrne and received his blessing for using and performing the song.
In response to the first Gulf War in Spring 1991, Sekar, Vidya, Amanda, and I along with many other friends organized a Peace Concert at the Madurai Gandhi Museum amphitheater featuring Rajasekaran and the Glass Bangles. In 1992, a second Peace Concert was held in conjunction with a festival of regional grassroots rural development projects. In 1993, Sekar performed "In my life" by the Beatles at our wedding in Berkeley.
Our final musical collaboration came in 2021 during the pandemic where we each wrote a song, recorded it, and sent it to each other. I took Sekar's amazing Tamil vocals and guitar and recorded backing tracks for him to consider.
Sekar was a singer, performer, song writer, guitarist, son, husband, father, cultural interpreter, rock star, folk singer, devoted friend, colleague, dynamo, imp, lover of life and people, connector, activist, translator. Sekar was all of these and much, much more.
May his soul rest in peace. May his memory be a blessing to all of us and especially to his family - Vidya, Rohini, and Arun.”
~Peter Mayer
Shansi Fellow at The American College, Madurai 1986-88
“When I first met Sekar in 1983 I was a new Shansi fellow and he was working with University of Wisconsin students setting up fieldwork projects. I loved his energy and enthusiasm for life! It was irresistible.
Over the years as my family and I have returned to Madurai for visits I have come to appreciate his gifts on a new level. I see him as a weaver of community - as someone who had a vast network of relationships and who used that network to bring people together across differences in creative and profound ways.
He offered this gift with such love, respect, generosity and joy! He helped find a Montessori school for our kids when we lived in Madurai for several months; he set up a kabbadi match between Lady Doak College students and a group of UMass students we had brought to Madurai (what fun!); he found a Silambam teacher willing to teach American women… the list goes on and on.
He touched those he worked with profoundly. His connections and his wisdom made us better, more compassionate, curious and joyful. It’s hard to imagine Madurai without him.”
~Anne Richmond
Shansi Fellow at Lady Doak College, 1983-85
“I am deeply saddened to hear about the loss of Sekar. He was an absolute star. Apart from his general generosity and sheer friendliness, I'll never forget the performance of his Tamil rendering of "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads at the American College campus during my time there from 2000-2002.“
~Matt Baxter
Shansi Fellow at The American College, 2000-2002
“Here are two favorite memories of Sekar.
My second favorite is singing "Teacher Your Children Well" in full harmony for the 90th anniversary celebration of the Main Hall at American College. It wasn't just the skill of his playing or the resonance of his voice, but something deeper and deeply life affirming that came through both of them together that will stay with me till the end of my life. He knew what it means to sing with all of one's being.
But my first favorite is something more quiet. My second year at AC, when I was living in a village outside of Madurai, I had to stay late to finish some work and needed to grab a bite to eat in Goripalayam before catching a bus home. At the time I was still learning how to move and speak with the people in the village and often felt very lonely. Somehow the thought of having dinner by myself that evening was too much to bear. On a whim I called Sekar and he immediately said there was a North Indian dhaba in Goripalayam that he'd been meaning to try and why don't we eat there together? We had a delightful shared meal, made all the more delightful and meaningful by the fact that this guy, this superstar of the Wisconsin program and Madurai with plenty of other things to do and take care of, went out of his way to eat with me and help me feel less alone.”
Thank you, Sekar, for everything. I'll never forget it.
~Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
Shansi Fellow at The American College, 1998-2000
“I met Rajasekaran a few times and like so many others was drawn in by his magnetic personality and infectious spirit. We talked about doing some music together but it never worked out.
When Betsy and I were Shansi reps at Lady Doak and American Colleges (1969-1971) we had a folk-singing group with the students and sang some old favourites and newer tunes by Simon and Garfunkel and others. After one of our trips to Chennai on the Pandyan Express (which was a pretty new high-speed rail connection at that time) I wrote a folk song for our group about that train. ‘From the temple towers of Madurai, to the wide Marina shore . . .’ was how it started. It was set to the tune of ‘the Wabash Cannonball.’
Years later, someone said they thought they had heard Rajasekaran singing that song on the radio. I never did find out if that was the case, but I wondered if he had heard the song from the Eddy’s. We lived with the Eddy’s during our Shansi time, on P.T. Rajan Road.
Anyway, I always hoped it was true. I could never imagine a better person than Rajasekaran to give real life to any song.
I join with the Shani family and the Madurai community in mourning our loss. And my thoughts are with Rohini at this time”
~Julian Smith
Shansi Fellow at The American College, 1969-71
As we reflect on the wonderful life and times of Sekar, we can truly say that with every chord struck and every meal shared, Sekar’s personal impact is undeniable and long lasting.