Kabir’s message of love and unity is vitally important in the current discordant times and we feel it is presented in the music of our times,” says founder Anirban Ghosh, as his band Dastaan Live takes centre stage at The Sacred Amritsar, a music and poetry festival organised in Punjab’s holiest city.
As the green, yellow and red spotlights shine down from the thick mud walls of the 18th-century Gobindgarh Fort onto an open stage, the 11 artists begin their act called Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein. It is a reinterpretation of songs featured in MK Raina’s seminal play of the same name, released in 1982.
The band, founded in 2016, has been performing on Kabir’s poetry since their second show. Last month, the group also performed at the International Theatre Festival of Kerala. It is not the first time that an artist or a band has used Kabir as its inspiration. It all started 17 years ago with filmmaker Shabnam Virmani and Vipul Rikhi’s Kabir Project, which is credited with the revival of Kabir’s poetry. I
n fact, over 15 years ago they organised the first urban Kabir Festival in Bengaluru. Then there is the muchtouted annual Mahindra Kabir Festival, which celebrates the spirit of the mystic across music, literature and the arts. Malwi folk singer Prahlad Tipaniya is known globally for his rustic interpretation of Kabir, while Delhi-based folk musician Vedi Sinha is the founder of The Aahvaan Project that features his works.
The Mumbai group Kabir Café also presents folk fusion with the mystic’s doha at its core. The performance in Amritsar begins with the powerful sounds of the damru. Then comes the lyrics: Na main dharmi na adharmi (Neither am I the follower of dharma nor am I a non-follower). “In this world, everyone has label—husband, wife, boss and employee. We are all recognised by these. These become our identity. But only when they are all removed would we find our true selves,” explains one of the vocalists. The band then invites the audience to sing and dance along. “It’s a satsang (sing-along event). We all do this together,” is a technique the band has adopted to interact with its audience over socio-political issues.
Then there was the song Naarad, pyar so antar nahi (There is no distinction in love), a kavitt (poem) which starts with a long aalap and rock beats. While one vocalist recites the lyrics, the other sings them in Indian classical style. The effect is contemporary, words that merge different times and captivate the audience. It seems the band, which also draws from poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, AN Ludhianvi, Baba Nagarjun, Pash, is on a mission to bring old voices of reason to a new age of strife. Kabir was more than a poet, he was also an impatient social critic.
Apart from his writings about divine love and equality, he could be caustic. The following number is a critique of the world. He sings, Saadho, dekho re jab bohraiya (Look, the world has gone crazy). The doha is about the one who speaks the truth is punished and the liar is celebrated.
“This happened in the 14th century and it’s happening now as well,” says a band member. Another poem is an extension of this philosophy.—Main kahi samjhau sab jag andha (What should I even explain, the world is blind). Kabir repeatedly asked people to look within, to find happiness and satisfaction in what one has, but they seek it elsewhere making themselves more miserable.
“That seems to have frustrated Kabir,” explains a musician. Dastaan Live’s beats echo this frustration and helplessness. “We want to take Kabir to as many people as possible and in as many languages. Kabir must reach everybody,” says Ghosh. Kahat Kabir suno bhai sadho....
