Monday, April 16, 2012

Monday, February 13, 2012

I meet Parvati Baul!


Bauls are a group of mystics from Bengal. Baul is a musical tradition as well as a spiritual path. Bauls are a very heterogeneous group, with many sects, but their membership mainly consists of Vaishnava Hindus and Sufi Muslims. They can often be identified by their distinctive clothes and musical instruments. Lalon Fakir is regarded as the most important poet-practioner of the Baul tradition. Baul music had a great influence on Rabindranath Tagore's poetry and on his music.


I met Parvaty Baul at the Kala Ghoda Art Festival this weekend. She studied at the Shantiniketan University, West Bengal. She met her Master (Guru) there and saw that Baul was a complete form of art and she chose to dedicate her life to it. She pursued studies in the Baul tradition rather than a formal education. She's has dedicated the last 19 years of her life to Baul.


Here's a Baul poem by Lalon Fakir translated.


How does the Unknown bird go,
into the cage and out again,
Could I but seize it,
I would put the fetters of my heart,
around its feet.
The cage has eight rooms and nine closed doors;
From time to time fire flares out;.
Above there is a main room,
The mirror-chamber
O my heart, you are set on the affaires
of the cage;
(Yet) the cage was made by you,
made with green bamboo;
The cage may fall apart any day.
Lalon says,
The bird may work its way out
and fly off somewhere.
“”
— Lalon's song translated by Brother James





Here's the link to a Youtube video of my meeting with Parvaty Baul Part 1 and Part 2




Kala Ghoda Art Festival





Installations at the Kala Ghoda Art Festival 2012. An event that happens every year at Kala Ghoda. Art in almost all forms are showcased - Photography, paintings, installations, dance, theatre, cinema, heritage walks, various workshops...










Friday, January 27, 2012

Art in Nature

This is a Jasmine tree in the building compound. Beautiful patterns in the growth of the branches. This tree blossoms in the night and its lovely fragrance enchants.

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