Kanye West plans to go and meditate in India

A rumour is circulating on the Internet that Kanye West is heading for India, for Pondicherry to be precise. The singer-producer has apparently been depressed and inconsolable since his mother died in November 2007. Add to that his rowdy behaviour at the MTV Video Music Awards in September, which has seen him ostracised by much of the music industry, and did we mention the cancellation of his tour with Lady Gaga? All in all, the US rapper is in a bad way, hence his idea to go off and meditate in an Indian ashram on the nature of the human condition.

Kanye West is not the first to flee the excesses of modern life: even back in their day, The Beatles went on retreat in India, turning the spiritual break to their advantage by using it to write much of their "White Album". We can only hope for the same level of inspiration for Kanye West...