Jun 18 2023 to Jun 18 2023 6:30 p.m.

EVENT HAS ENDED

Price: Rs 400 Book/Buy

Where

Shoonya - Centre for Art and Somatic Practices

4th Floor, Rear Wing, Brahmananda Court, 37, Lal Bagh Main Road 560027

Event Description

This 90-minute music program explores the mystical poetry of 16- 17th century Sufi poets Baba Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain from Punjab interspersed with introductions and translations of each piece. Their verses ponder the ultimate question 'Who am I?' beyond all identities. Bulleh Shah surrendered to his 'Murshid' or spiritual guide Shah Inayat, despite opposition from his family. His poetry reflects this journey, singing "Neither Arabi nor Lahori nor from Nagaur, Not Hindu, Turk or Peshawari. Bullah cannot be defined by place or race." He expresses divine longing through Heer's voice, chanting "Call me Ranjha now, not Heer anymore”

The ensemble comprising Radhika Sood Nayak (Sufi singer & composer), Neil Mukherjee (guitar) & Vinayak Netke (table) unravels the mystical poetry of Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain, conveyed through soulful music, illuminates the timeless quest for self-awareness and union with the divine. Their vision of a world beyond all divisions finds expression in this shared offering. The musical narrative covers songs of poets, - Shah Hussain and Bulleh Shah and is interspersed with translations and context of each song, bringing the listener into the song despite being unfamiliar with the Punjabi language. Come ready to traverse inner space through sacred Sufi songs.

Two poets from 16th and 17th century Punjab, Shah Hussain and Bulleh Shah. One embraced a young Hindu Brahmin Madholal as his beloved and disciple and is now remembered as Madholal Hussein. The other, born in the Syed lineage, sought a farmer, an Araee'n, as his Murshid, his master. Shah Hussein, a weaver, and Bulleh Shah, a scholar. Both spoke of renouncing meaningless rituals to realize the divine. They spoke for the humble, the lowly, the disenfranchised. They dissolved the binaries of gender, religion, class, and caste. They sought to understand 'Who am I' (Ki Jaana Mein Kaun).