Anand George

(2 April 1942 – 14 May 2024)

A man of authenticity and creative authority

by Swami Paritosh Atasa

Swami Anand George (George Groot) died this week from cancer, at the age of 82.

Although he knew that he only had a year left to live after his main treatment, he kept living with totality, and with a certain curiosity in what life would bring to him, and to what was around him.

He had such a sense of humour and positivity that a lot of people loved to be in his company. He was a man of deep authenticity, and in his work, as a lyricist of many Dutch cabaret songs, he was a natural and creative authority.

I came to know him by the time I was in my late twenties (1985). George in those days taught drama and writing in arts schools. He was the only teacher wearing red and a mala. His lessons were always very personal and witty. Not long after that I also went to Pune and took sannyas. He and his wife Anke, who was also a teacher at the drama school and who always dressed in white, became my nextdoor neighbours.

George had taken sannyas in the late seventies. When he came back to Holland he was wearing orange which caused quite a turmoil. He had been a member of a famous cabaret group, Don Quishocking. In their performances they had poetical, but also satirical songs and performed cabaret sketches about the spirit of the times.

The other members of the group (they had been performing together over 10 years already) thought that he had become totally crazy when they heard that he wanted to wear orange and the mala even on stage. “It’s not a joke,” he said to the other members of the group, “I will keep on wearing orange.” This became the beginning of a series of conflicts within the group, where also Anke belonged to. They decided to play out these conflicts in a new show, which then became their last one. Public and press were not amused.

George’s working life later on consisted mainly of writing. He had written beautifully about various issues and also about his personal life experiences, such as death (his wife Anke died in 2010), break-up and loss. His texts were very intelligent though using ordinary language, all with a narrative and a deep hidden truth. I remember in particular a beautiful song about a Jewish women he had written for a theater program, TipTop (which was about pre-war Jewish entertainment).

George had taught many students the art of writing good lyrics for cabaret or theatre. He also directed and coached many students and actors with their performances, in his very own way; loving – but also direct. He had taught Lyrics Writing, for more than thirty years, at the Utrecht School of Arts, Language Expression and Language & Play at the Drama School in Amsterdam and was also, until 2013, a lecturer for Song Lyrics Writing at the King’s Theatre Academy for Cabaret.

If he was on stage alone or with others, whatsoever he did, he was always himself, as if he was just sitting and having a chit chat with you or me, even if talking on life’s main issues.

He has never lived in a commune. He somehow hated the “bull-shitty things” around sannyas culture, but his love for Osho was always there – that was clear to me. E.g. he would always namaste a picture of Osho when leaving or returning home. I could feel it was always coming from his heart.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the many coffee talks we had together, so much laughter about sense and nonsense of this life.

I love the man and many of us did; we will miss his laughter and uniqueness.

Thank you, George, for who you are.

Be happily united with Anke and friends up there, and fly high into the unsayable, George!

Swami Paritosh Atasa (Pieter de Koning) and Swami Gyanam (Boudewijn Kruithof)

Outbound links (in Dutch)

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