Kolkata: Many who have travelled to Santiniketan, the university town of Bengal, would have come across these saffron-clad, bearded souls, with ancient instruments like the ektara (one stringed guitar) or dubki (small drum with a single membrane) nestled against their waists, singing soul-stirring songs of life, physical love, spirituality and death.

The Baul singers hail from Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia and Nadia - from West Bengals "red earth" areas, where the ground is rich in laterite. Born at the confluence of Tantra, Buddhism, Sufism and Vaishnavism, exponents of Bauls are troubadours, always on the move, in quest for the ultimate reality.

Their music has been handed down generations. They live in familial surroundings but ties, like most in the modern world, are tenuous and they hate to be rigid about it. When couples split, they need not take legal recourse.

Their music form, however, seems to be out of sync with today. Efforts are on to revive this form through the first Baul Utsav, Shikawr, in Kolkata.

Amitava Basu, an independent researcher working on Baul music for more than 25 years, is organising the festival. He feels it is a dying art form, thanks to the onslaught of modern-day influences.

"Baul has its roots in the word "batul" which means "deewanapan".

The main characteristic of Baul music is its earthiness. But I have seen jean-clad urban musicians belt out music with so-called Baul influences. This is definitely not the real stuff," scorns Basu.

He adds: "This traditional form of music has been superseded by the chaotic beats of fusion and international music."

"Middle class values do not apply to them and we cannot judge their lyrics against such concepts," observes another Baul expert.

But, Baji, drummer from Bangla band Cactus, feels the entire concept of transposing them onto an urban stage, under the glare of arc lights and before blaring microphones, is not such a good idea either. "The moment electrical lights come into the picture, the real essence of Baul gets tossed out of the window," Baji told DNA.

Cactus, like several other Bangla bands has incorporated certain traditional Baul grooves and notes in some of its music and has even done shows with Pawan Das Baul. However, Baji regrets that they were not able to capture the essence of Baul music. Samar Nag, chairman of Bengal Shelter, which is organising the festival, said: "The effort to revive Baul music is part of our corporate social responsibility."
Source : Central