THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Deb Chowdhary is all about improvisations. At one moment he will be talking about the beauty of folk tracks and the next moment he will surprise you by singing the hit number 'Jamaican Farewell' by Harry Belafonte, playing the notes effortlessly on the baul instrument Dotara. And it is these improvisations and experimentations that has charted out a fresh trajectory for the Bengali folk music, by fusing it with music from all over the world. Deb has successfully taken the Bengali folk tracks to the world, and how!
The vast repository of Bengali folk music of Baul, Fakir, Darbesh gets a refreshing take with the incorporation of music instruments from all over the world. So you have the traditional Bengali folk instruments such as Ektara, Khamak, Dotara, Madol and such taking centre-stage with the instruments from other parts of the world. The mandolin, ukulele, acoustic guitar, acoustic drums, the bass guitar, Latin American instrument Cajon, Darbuka, Djembe all get incorporated when music is created at Sahajiya Folk Band, creating global music, which is yet rooted in the ancestry.
It was meeting Darbeshi singer Kalachand Darbesh that made Deb make a transition from the mainstream music milieu to Bengali folk music. While travelling Deb saw Kalachand Darbesh, singing and playing a unique instrument- the Swaraj.
“The music was not Bong. It had a lot of other influences and the music and the instrument spiked my interest. I had never seen that instrument. I followed him for six years to make a film on him. It is not just the music that changed me. It is the man himself,” recalls Deb who is now the only practitioner of Darweshi songs. “I felt converted to this philosophy. I took the path of Darweshi. It is not only music but also a lifestyle,” he adds.
Deb has been pioneering a new movement in the Bengali folk arena for the past several years. The Sahajiya Foundation aimed at the welfare of the Bengali folk artists was set up. “The idea is to support the folk musicians of Bengal. As many as 60 folk musicians are being supported by the foundation,” says Deb.
For someone who adheres to a philosophical way of life, the dream is also big and philosophical. “It is my dream to create a platform where musicians from every corner of the world will join and make music. Maybe a 25 person band, and we will move all around the world and the music will help transcend the borders. Why do we need these borders for countries, why the division,” asks Deb. He believes that music can heal the world like no other.
“Only music can build the bridge between the borders, between the South Pole and the North Pole, between the religions, languages and even politically,” he said.