A baul singer of West BengalI was on my way to Shanti Niketan, in the Inter-City Express to Bolpur. One saffron gown clad man entered the chair car compartment. The thought – “here comes another magician, who would annoy every passenger by asking for money after he is done with his tricks” - came to my mind. But I was so wrong! Instead, this soft spoken man sang some soulful and melodious baul song. Keeping rhythm with his ghungroo on one of his ankles, he was creating effortless music with the dotara he had on his hands. Once he was done with his first number, the passengers requested for more. He obliged with a smile. I couldn’t resist the moment. I knew, I cannot get a better picture that says, “Incredible India" - literally!
You may like to know about:
Shanti Niketan
Baul Songs
Ghungroo
Dotara
Indeed! You can connect to the songs even if you do not know the lyrics. I think it is the melody that bonds you. Otherwise, how could a three year old can be spellbound and then relate to the songs! I am talking about my son. In fact, we decided to name him Kabir as we found him very fond of folk music.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the instrument the Baul is playing is not Dotara. As the name specifies, Dotara has two (Do) strings (Tar)only. The instrument the Baul is playing has more than two strings and cannot be Dotara.
I agree with you about "Dotara". I will have to do some digging to know more about this instrument. Do come back to this space for the updates. I will be requiring you patience on this one though :). Thank you for stopping by.
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