koi sunta hai

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/2833


This is a link for the movie made by Shabnam Virmani, which talks about the life of Pt.Kumar Gandharva. Now this documentary is available for viewing on the internet itself. Someone just sent me a link. I thought I could share it here. I appear in a very brief part here, singing one of my Kabir pad, which brought a number of people to me asking me about the lyrics of the song, till I finally decided to make a blog out of all the Kabir work that I have done and will continue to do. The very first entry of my blog contains the lyrics of that song, that I have sung in this film- Jaag Piyaari. To go to it, you will have to go to the 'older posts' section which appears at the right hand bottom of the blogposts, till you reach the last page of the blog. I hope to soon someday, put the song here itself for you to hear. I do not have the means to execute that desire of mine, but I am sure it will work out soon someday.

cassette release function of kahe kabir album

I am just trying to get the old website here, before the next website of the Foundation is put in order. This website was online from 2004, till I wound it up in 2009.
In this foto you can see me with the tanpura. The year was Jan or Feb of 2001. Towards my right hand is seated Sher Khan or Anees Bhai; who was a most affable tabla player I was to ever meet in my life. Sadly, he is no more with us in his body form: had a very sudden demise in his early fifties.
Next to him, is the most faithful tabla accompanist anyone could have-Mishraji, who has been with me since March 2000- so much like an elder brother. Always dedicated, always ready to play to make me do my riyaaz-till date.
This program was inaugurated by Sardar Surinder Pal Singh, the older of the duo of Singh Bandhus, the singing brothers' duo. It was an early lesson about what all should not be done in organising a program!!!! ha ha ha!!

Language and Music I use in compositions

Kabir has lived in an age where language was slightly different from the manner we use it today. So in my choice of pada, doha or saakhi (पद, दोहा, साखी) I have deliberately tried to use those poetic pieces which are clear in meaning even to the modern man. I have not tried to things whose meanings are not clear to me myself. But sometimes I must admit that when I did start the singing the meanings were not as clear as they became much later as I sang them over years and the many layers of thoughts came to me.

I am sure, knowing Kabir for what he was, he never tried to make things difficult to understand. Sometimes when I hear from people from the countrysides of UP and Bihar speak with one another I find those same sounds and I am so happy to see that language is still being spoken in its sweetness and melody. Its another matter I hardly understand most of it!!

Moreso, my music. Though I have had a long training with a number of gurus, in at least two different gharanas of singing, my bhakti music is devoid of any affectations of classical styles. This is for two reasons. Firstly, when I started to compose music (at 27 years) I did not have such a grasp of composition and ragas. Secondly, I started to sing Kabir as an answer to my inner quest- not as a thing which was an extension of my singing. So for me bhakti came first, not the raga. The raga is a tool, not the paramount thing in singing Kabir.

Before, I started to sing Kabir of my own sort, the only other person whose Kabir singing I had heard was Pt.Kumar Gandharva. Having heard him, there was no way I wanted to sing Kabir in that manner. His style was the acme of his singing and established him as a singing Nirguni singer, made him popular among the educated, middle class audiences and created a new wave of bringing Kabir into the mainstream consciousness of India. His classical music was a different story altogether. And yet, it was not a style that could be easily emulated.

I certainly can sing a few bhajan in the manner he sang them, but I do not want to compose music like that (not that I can either) I wanted to have such a simple musical expression that anyone who heard them could learn them easily and my Kabir (merakabir) could become  a part of day-to-day lives. The additional deliberation I did in this case was I did not record the albums in any other format than a solitary voice. I could easily have got a chorus together...but I chose to remain singular, so that it could be the scenario anyone could be in - alone by themselves and singing.

Much later, I heard a lot of styles of singing Kabir. Some of it also came from the movies Shabnam (Virmani) made. But I realised all the more that these are not the styles that most people can sing by themselves, unless they are trained in a certain way. All the more I am comfortable within me about what I made out of my Kabir consciousness. It is an offering out of my deepest love for that man, who had the highest philosophy to offer to the world- love. Since then my whole quest has been to become more and more simple, at peace within (though life is as difficult and heart-breaking as it could get) and grounded in music and service rather than aggrandizement of the Self.

पोथी पढ़ पढ़ जग मुआ, पंडित भया न कोय
ढाई आखर प्रेम का, पढ़े सो पंडित होय 
pothi padh padh jag muva, pandit bhayaa na koy
dhai aakhar prem ka, padhe so pandit hoy

My simple interpretation-
with all its scholarly searching and reading numerous books, nobody became learned- a scholar (in the true sense). He alone is learned who has learnt the meaning of the simple word 'love'

Mera Kabir, whether as my writing, my singing or my lecturing is a part of that simplicity of Kabir as I see reflected within and borne out of that same small word love.

financial express article

I think this article had appeared in 2003! not a recent one...so funny that a 30-31 year old is saying that i am at peace. is it possible? i should have taken to the Himalayas then. the journey is very much on, and peace is a process that goes along as you go along. It shows up in little specks here and there, you get there at times, once in awhile and reminds you of the possibility of getting there finally. But as long as there are commitments, there are responsibilities, there is love (for anything, whether human, divine or intellectual) you continue to be in that churning, you remain in that dance of maya. Of course, it is better on days when you can watch the dance like an outsider.

mann laago mero yaar fakiri mein

 मन लागो मेरो यार फकीरी में
जो सुख पावो नाम भजन में, सो सुख नाही अमीरी में
भला बुरा सब को सुन लीजो, कर गुजरान गरीबी में;
प्रेम नगर में रहनी हमारी, भली बनी आई सबूरी में;
हाथ में कुण्डी, बगल में सोट्टा, चारों दिशा जागीरी में;
आखिर ये तन ख़ाक मिलेगा, कहा फिरत मगरूरी में
कहें कबीर सुनो भाई साधो, साहेब मिलें सबूरी में.

mann laago mero yaar fakiri mein

jo sukh paavo naam bhajan mein, so sukh naahi ameeri mein;

bhalaa buraa sab ko sun leejo, kar gujraan garibi mein;

prem nagar mein rahni hamaari, bhalli banni aayi saboori mein;

haath mein kundi, bagal mein sotaa, chaaron disha jagiri mein;

akhir yeh tann khaak milega, kahaa firat magroori mein;

kahein Kabir suno bhai Sadho, Saheb milae saboori mein.

( you will soon be able to hear this recorded song from my Kabir album here. still learning to change format to mp3)

about alms or begging

maangan maran samaan hai, mat maango koi bheekh

maagan se to maribo bhalaa, yeh hai satguru ki seekh
मांगन मरण सामान है, मत मांगो कोई भीख
मागन से तो मरिबो भला, यह है सतगुरु की सीख 

Poetic translation-

Begging is akin to dying, do not ask for alms

Tis better to die than beg, this is the view of the Satguru (Kabir)

My own interpretation-

Kabir says that to beg of another is to amount to killing your own self, for you lower yourself and kill the divine element within when you do so. Saying that he says to the listener that do not ask for alms. It is better to die than beg, for don't you kill your conscience when you ask for alms and choke your own Self? This is the teaching of the Satguru, meaning himself-Kabir.

doha about anger

क्रोध अग्नि घर घर बैठी, जरे सकल संसार
दीं लीं निज भक्त जो, तिन के निकट उबार 


krodha agni ghar ghar baithi, jarae sakal sansaar

deen leen nij bhakt jo, tin ke nikkat ubaar

poetic transliteration

the fire of anger sits in every home, burning the entire world down

he that is humble and who surrenders, is the only who shall be saved from burning

My interpretation-

the fire of anger resides in the home of each and every- the home of the soul (body) and the home of the individual (where he lives with family) And the flames of this fire are so potent that the human burns in anger, as well as the home burns due to anger...the whole world burns down in anger- inside the home and outside.

(Repeatedly the motif of ghar or ghatt occurs in Kabir's poetry and it refers to both the home of the soul- the body as well as the home of the body- the house with four walls)

Only s/he will be saved from this anger burning him down who surrenders him/herself; so that they will be rescued from the fire.( am not too happy with this way of explaining this!)