“Who taught you this Kabir bhajan?” The old man, who had just rendered the song movingly, replied cheerfully — “No one! I composed it.” This story captures the elusiveness of Kabir. Not even his ouevre is defined. A poet who dazzles as much with his fearlessness as with his felicity over language, Kabir inspires a wide spectrum of people.
Kabir’s multiple facets as an outspoken social commentator, as a preacher of love, as a seeker of truth amidst transience, one who had access to the mystical world of the Nath yogis, one who sang songs with paradoxes bordering on gibberish (ulat bhaas), one who also sang the simple Ram naam, the Kabir as found in ‘his’ songs is hard to capture in any single saga.
Hagiography, myth and legend galore — the only available source — make the task of finding an authentic life story impossible. There are popular tidbits about his being castaway by his unwed mother to be found by a Muslim weaver couple, Sant Ramanand initiating him into Ramanama, his dying in Magahar, the fight over his body and the miraculous flower bed in the place of his body. All these found a place in ‘Kabeer’, a two-hour mono act by Shekar Sen as the finale of ‘Vithala Vithala,’ a three-day festival by SMP Namasankeertana Trust at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha.
An imaginative construction of Kabir’s life based on lore and ‘his’ work — both so nebulous — is what Sen pulled off with aplomb. It was a coherent, well-etched portrait that focussed on Kabir’s reformist persona.
A madman
“They say I am mad. Did you know that the first quality of a madman is that he is fearless? I do not fear — to ask the Pundit why he shaves his head repeatedly — if that gives you Vaikunth, then surely the sheep will go there before everyone else! Or why the Muezzin has to ascend to the top of the mosque to call out to Allah. Is the All-knowing deaf?” (Somewhat puzzling, for the Muezzin calls out not to Allah but to the devotees to assemble for worship!)
The performance was remarkable for Sen’s high energy, for his monologue as Kabir shifted quickly to a dialogue mode with different voice projections, now gnarly, now crooning, and effortlessly bursting into song. Sen sang well known dohas and bhajans to the accompaniment of recorded music, all composed by him. This obviously involved a great deal of planning, and practice. “I rehearse everyday. If I miss even a day’s practice, I punish myself,” said Sen.
As Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi, he has before him the task of offering meaningful support across the country to artistic endeavours, dessemination of archives and bringing out publications. “The common charge against the Akademi is that all its events are Delhi-based. We now conduct events in remote villages such as Koraput, a naxal hotbed. And all our events are webcast — our app alerts you about the happenings. This is all executed within a tight budget and with minimal manpower,” he informed.
When it was pointed out that a person from the South could not have presented Andal or Sundarar to a northern audience the way he brought Kabir to Chennai, he agreed saying that it depended not on institutions but individual artistes, who had to communicate their art to newer audiences and win them over. His own act was certainly such a success story with the audience that day going into raptures.
