Journey's with Kabir

 

Till now,  I was never much into  folk and Sufi music and  Documentary films..By being part of  Kabir Festival had changed that.

 It was one of the most  exhilarating experiences  of my life..  It was mix  of   classical music  and  some  Music  from “Wilderness”.. ( As one of the Artist  from Rajasthan  explained.)…  Even  as   an uninitiated layman  of  Music,  I could  say  that  in  Folk artist ‘s and Qawali   there was more life and  less of Music.  Probably they were not much worried about   the notes and swaras and layas…

The best  part of the  whole experience  was  the documentary film  Koi Sunta Hai ?   focused on  Kumar Gandharva.  Kumar Gandharva was recognised for his musical genius at the age of twelve when Pundit Deodhar  took him under his wings, later an unfortunate ailment of tuberculosis left him with just one lung.  For Ten  long years he could not sing, when  his  musical prowess at its peak..  He retreated  to Dewas , a place in  present day Madhya Pradesh.  It is said  that he regained his  health and passion for music after listening to  nirguna bhajans of Kabir   sung  by wanderers /beggars/monks.

 

PFB an article on journeys with Kabir ( published in Deccan Herald. )

 

 

Journeys with Kabir
Yamini Vijayan retraces Kabirs footsteps with Shabnam Virmani.
It still rings in my ears, that monotonous forced chanting that echoed through our classrooms, as we all recited Kabir’s dohas. We would mumble through our yawns, pinch each other while repeating them, almost meaninglessly. It would have never occurred to me then how far ahead of his times Kabir was. Was it because we were too young to understand then or were we not exposed to his powerful ideologies in the right manner? But why would we turn to a 15th century weaver, a mystic poet, so many centuries later, do we not have enough heroes of our time? Maybe because right now sentiments are brittle, divisive politics are being played out right in front of our eyes and it has become difficult to cling onto hope without turning away from injustice. Today, when communal tensions have managed to make daily headlines, it seems like an appropriate time to go back to Kabir’s beliefs. A champion of Hindu-Muslim unity, Kabir’s bold opposition to superstitious beliefs, empty ritualism and caste distinctions in religion has always made him stand out as a symbol of non-conformity. But today, when religion is being used manipulatively, for all the wrong reasons, Kabir’s remarkably secular voice returns, as a breath of fresh air. Last week, at multiple venues in Bangalore, a festival celebrating the ideas of Kabir — ‘Koi Sunta Hai’ — was organised through film screenings, seminars, discussions and live musical performances by folk, classical and Sufi singers. The director of the festival, documentary filmmaker Shabnam Virmani says, “The title of the festival draws on a phrase from a Kabir song that urges us to stop and listen. I hope in some small moment in this festival we will quieten down and allow ourselves to get nudged by Kabir away from dogma and self-righteous assertion towards listening with compassion and empathy.” Shabnam has been working on the Kabir project since 2002. Her project has taken the form of four films, a collection of music CDs and books with Kabir’s poetry, along with the translations. An artist in residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, Shabnam feels that for her, Kabir has been a medium to find herself. So, what triggered her personal quest that led her to different parts of the country and even across borders in search of Kabir and his various manifestations? “There were many reasons. One of them was the Godhra riots. I was in Ahmedabad at the time. Also, I wanted to do something related to music, unadulterated music...,” she says. Shabnam’s set of four films — Journeys with Kabir —  zoom in on the lives of an urban folklorist, a social activist, a Zen Buddhist scholar, a Dalit folk singer, a Muslim qawwal, a neo-fascist cleric of a Kabir sect — each of them bringing us closer to the revelation that there is no single Kabir, but instead, that he takes on different forms. But her films go far beyond the confines of personal lives of those who have found meaning in Kabir’s philosophy, spilling over into socio-political issues, delving into the core of Hindu-Muslim politics and the concept of man-made boundaries. Shabnam also travels to Pakistan, only to discover that Kabir has touched lives even across borders. As she journeys with Kabir singers, stumbling upon revelations, old and new, it is likely that we find ourselves travelling alongside, engrossed in Kabir’s verses. The Kabir festival that was organised brought together musicians from diverse backgrounds into shared performance spaces, initiating dialogue and cross-cultural collaborations. It also gave people an opportunity to understand Kabir through music, films and engage in his transformative poetry. At IIM, Bangalore, after the screening of her film, Had Anhad: Journeys with Ram and Kabir, a visibly stirred audience asked her how her six-year-long project had affected her. “I seem to be lapsing into clichés, but it’s been a joyous journey, a transformative experience,” she says, breaking into a wide sincere smile. Shabnam is also a Kabir singer. Have you always been a singer, I ask her. “I have always been fond of music. But it is the democratic ethos of the folk singers and the nasha of being on the road with these singers that inspired me to take to music.” A man from the audience walked up to Shabnam before he left and asked her how she had managed to find all the singers in her films. “You sniff them out. I used to be a journalist,” she replied. The Kabir project is a way of finding beautiful, powerful voices and helping them strengthen it. “There is so much darkness anyway,” as Shabnam puts it. Hopefully, many of us would draw inspiration from Shabnam’s journey, as she urges us to travel more, read Kabir’s poetry, listen to Kabir’s music and make links to our own lives. For more details, log on to http://www.kabirproject.org/