Gorbhanga: The village of soul-stirring music

Simplicity has its own charm and the essence of such charm pirouettes on a purity that’s sublime to the core. A single stroke at the string of the ‘Ektaara’, the age old musical instrument of the ‘bauls’, is enough to tug at one’s heart strings. The bauls or the wandering minstrels profess the ultimate philosophy of life through the lilt and cadence of their simple lyrics. The philosophy propagates the thought that God resides amongst us and we humans should search our soul for finding the God within.

Baul in Bengal has been synonymous to Bolbur and Barddhaman till the emergence of Gorbhanga, a village in Nadia district of West Bengal, which is home to a band of baul singers whose compositions have an essence of ‘Sufi philosophy’ embedded in them. But lack of exposure and market linkage gradually etiolated the genre. Beleaguered with basic needs of life, the artists were being compelled to leave their inherent vocation. The baul songs were getting confined to the fairs and festivals or in their own ‘Akhras’ where few connoisseurs of the music assembled to appreciate it.

Such was the situation when a much needed intervention was made towards the revival and revitalization of folk art culture as a means of sustainable livelihood for the artists of Gorbhanga. The focus was to bring the young folk artists and their indigenous folk form in league with the other performing arts across the globe and withstand competition from them. To attain this, they were trained to make their art presentable to a global audience. They were made to understand their strength and weaknesses. Importance of retaining originality was emphasised so that the artists do not give in to the market forces. Traditional Gurus, contemporary musicians, singers, theatre specialists, percussionists, instrument players have also been involved in the basic skill development trainings. Support was extended in the form of instrument, costume and accessories.

Workshops with international performers like Sabina Rakcheyeva, a violinist from London, Kathleen Taag, a pianist from New York and Attab Haddad an Oud player from London helped immensely in building the capacity of the artists. Tanmoy Bose’s Taal tantra created unique confluence of different cultural influences endowing a modern nuance to the traditional baul music.

Media support was mobilized for promotion and propagation of the art form. Training on musical instruments as well as exposure to diverse traditional and modern instruments made the artists capable of taking the international arena. Training in audio and video recording in studio setting was imparted.

Baul and Fakiri songs are oral traditions and had a strong influence on Tagore. The songs in tune with baul music were promoted which helped in creating an appeal to a large section of audience who gradually started taking interest in Baul Fakiri songs. 740 such songs were recorded to create a digital archive of songs. Audio CDs were released from these recordings. The songs are also uploaded into the web based digital archive folklibrary.com.

Workshops created an understanding of the dynamics of culture, place and society in different environments. Space was created for development of new music and the artists have been empowered to develop and perform orchestration of folk music. The bauls today have proved their mettle and are now instrumental in bringing out an overall growth of their village. They are change makers who are now being idolised by their fellow villagers. Both men and women artists benefited from the trainings and both emerged as world class performers. Women minstrels are taking tours abroad and creating a niche market for them.

The Annul festival at Gorbhanga witnesses a huge congregation of connoisseurs of folk art forms from Kolkata including students interested in folk forms of Bengal and also those from UK and USA. The popularity of the festival has made Gorbhanga emerge as a destination for cultural tourism and today the village boasts of about 30,000 visitors during the 3 days of the annul festival.  Once the bauls were empowered the world was their stage. Transcending the boundaries they traveled abroad to destinations like London and Paris. The festivals were a platform for creating pubic awareness about the different singing styles of Baul Fakirs of Nadia and were also a vital component of marketing. It also helped the artists to understand the expected quality standards of performance. Performances were aimed at schools and colleges to attract the future audience.

Promotional activities ensured new partnerships at India, UK and France. Leading patrons of folk art and organisers of folk festivals like the Tagore Society of London, Asian Music Circuit, Milap Fest, Alliance Françoise, Impresario, ICCR, Maison des Cultures du Monde, organizers of Festival Les Orientales and Festival De L’Imaginaire are interested in showcasing the folk performances at India and abroad. A new height was achieved by the artists when they took part in a movie, named Moner Manush, and acted with ease and natural flair. However, the most defining moment came with Sufi Sutra- the first ever international Sufi festival in eastern India. Sharing the stage with international performers from Egypt, Syria, Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh set a new milestone for them and also proved the potential of their compositions by harmonizing seamlessly with the world music.

As we watch the film the ‘bauls’ are busy making last minute preparations to enchant the audience in their upcoming 5 city tour to Europe and also in Japan.