BENGALURU: Experience a blend of music, poetry and philosophy at Shabad Dhun Lagi. The show will feature singers from the Thar Dessert and Rann of Kutch - Omprakash Nayak, Mavji Jagariya and Saidu Ibrahim. The songs of poets such as Kabir, Mirabai, Shah Latif and many lesser known poets from Rajasthan such as Rohal Fakir, Vivek Nath, Mansingh and Rupa De will be shared with stories and translations by Shabnam Virmani and Vipul Rikhi from Kabir Project.
The event is called 'Shabad Dhun Laagi' for a reason, says Shabnam and adds, “Shabad means Word - which holds resonances of multiple meanings – it is the original sound, the poetic word and the song. Laagi means to be 'struck' or to be 'wounded' by this experience – which is at once a confluence of music, poetry and philosophy.”
Saidu Ibrahim has imbibed the Sufi songs of Shah Latif Bhitai while grazing cattle on the grasslands of Kutch. Shabnam says, "We first heard Saidu Ibrahim when we travelled to a remote village in Kutch to record the songs and poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai in 2011. We were struck by his voice, because there is something utterly moving about the simplicity of the unadorned voice, which soars with the power of joy and a kind of faith, and pierces straight to your heart, bypassing the brain.
“Mavji Jagariya melted our hearts, when we first heard him in Kutch in 2011, with the quiet reverence and soft feeling with which he sings the verses of Shah Latif. He sings and plays the daak at a Hindu temple in Mata Na Madh village of Lakhpat, Kutch, but for the last decade his heart is given over to Shah Sayeen.
“With Omprakash Nayak, we will get the distinct flavors of the vaani tradition (songs of the mystics) that has thrived for centuries in the bylanes and corners of the old city of Bikaner in the desert regions of Rajasthan. Several generations of his family, both men and women, have been steeped in the tradition of singing 'sant vaani'.
He can often be seen negotiating Bikaner's narrow alleys with a tambura on his moped on his way to or from a satsang. All it needs is 5-10 true nirgun seekers to gather, and a satsang will spark off. Then they are not deterred by the lack of a stage or instruments,” says Shabnam.
The tambura Nayak plays is over 85 years old and one that both his grandfather and grandmother have played and sung with. "Omprakash ji rues the fact that there are very few singers today who sing with a tambura, as most of them have succumbed to the easier and more populist sounds of the harmonium or keyboard," says Shabnam.
The show is on today at MLR Convention Centre, JP Nagar. Tickets are available at `300 on bookmyshow.