Song and Spirit of Kabir

HYDERABAD: Tuesday evening saw a quiet audience at Lamakaan lapping up all the wisdom coming from a lone singer Vipul Rikhi of the ‘Kabir Project’.

Equipped with minimal accompaniment – strumming a tamboora that looked more like an ektara and playing a tiny palm sized instrument for rhythm, Vipul Rikhi gave a concert “ Suno Bhai Sadho”, where he sang the works of philosophers like Kabir, Goraknath; Sufi poets like Bulle Shah and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. 

In the warm April weather, audience found it soothing to listen to some profound truths and philosophy, so different from the social media’s overdose of information (of which some true – some fake, though it is tough to make out which is what!). Good news is, the lyrically rich songs kept them from looking into their mobiles, at least for more than an hour: at the end of which some said it was highly de-stressing.

Vipul explained the philosophy of Kabir, who always implored one to “listen”, for, listening is the key to everything. Opening with “ kahaan se aayaa, kahan jaaoge, khabar kare apni tan ki”, Kabir talks of the Hindu- Muslim conflict and the duality in one’s self. Rituals are easy to follow, but it is tough to keep a calm inner self- “baahar bandha-andhar gandha”. 

Kabir says that all the answers can be found in the body itself: gardens and the gardeners, the seven oceans, millions of stars, heera, mothi, unimaginable jewels and the jeweller are all in this body and it reverberates with the primordial sound.

“Listen seekers, my guru is also in the body- it’s a fluid reality”. 
The wisdom of the body is where we have to look for answers. In the second song, audience joined in the catchy refrain “ dhoondere dhoonde andhiyara” and sang along with Vipul Rikhi.

The tale of Sassi - Punnu, a tragic love story of Sindh preceded Shah Latif’s song, which became for Shah, the parable of seeker on mystical path who undergoes all kinds of tribulations in the quest of God whom he will find, at the end of the road. 

In our lives too, the divine union is waiting to happen but we are either drunk or asleep (teetotallers and insomniacs excluded). 

Goraknath says that this body is fragile. It holds Ganga, Jamuna, the sweet and sour mangoes, the lock, the key and the key maker; they are all within- it is for us to choose what we want. In “tere ishq nachaya”, Bulle Shah dressed up as a girl and danced in abandon to appease his guru. .”

What Kabir said 500 years ago holds good even today- “Hindu kahe Ram, Muslim kahe Rahim, marm koi nahin jaana”. How true!! The secret is still not out.