"Door" to Dooars - 2008 - Masai Maara of West Bengal

11.4.2008

We reached Siliguri today and planned to go to Dooars (meaning door to Bhutan) : Murti ,Chapramari, Gorumara, Bindu, Jaldhaka, Rocky Island, Suntalekhola along with Tukuda , Swagatadi, Palashda, Mithu, Bhutuda.

From Siliguri (New Jalpaiguri station) we hired a Tata Sumo (which was already arranged by Tukuda) and took Sevoke Road which goes towards Kalimpong.

 https://goo.gl/maps/fn1uvhHKzkNkt14p9

In Siliguri there are two main roads - Hill Cart Road(NH 55) which goes upto to Darjeeling ( 3.5 hours by jeep) and the other road is Sevoke Road(NH 31 and NH 31A) which goes upto Kalimpong (2 hours by jeep) . After 30-40 minutes you will reach Coronation bridge. You have to cross the bridge to go towards Dooars. This road (NH 31C) will take you to extreme East of West Bengal: Chakchaka.

First major town is Odlabari via Bagrakot(Tukuda used to work in Odlabari division of State electricity Board). Then you reach Chalsa via Damdim,Malbazar. If you consider extreme Northern Part of Bengal, it looks like a face of a camel looking East ward , the NH 31C which starts from Chalsa, passes through the nostril of the camel. From Chalsa, a road goes southward (NH 31 ) and after Southward movement it again starts moving towards East , somewhat parallel to NH 31C and passes through the mouth of the camel! Basically NH 31C passes through Jalpaiguri and NH31 passes through Coochbehar.

There is a beautiful Sinclairs Resort in Chalsa. In North Bengal, 2-3 day conferences are often held at this Reosrt. In 2005, I went to the resort to explore the area. It is located on a (small) hill top. From Chalsa More you have to go right, Southwards (NH 31) to reach Murti Banani Forest Reosrt (tariff Rs 800 to 1400) , which is just beside Murti River. The location of the bunglow is very good indeed. However number of private bungalows have also come up around the river Murti. We spent some time at the river .Mohua was as usual busy with picking up pebbles beside the river.

Forest deptt bunglow beside Murti river

After taking our lunch, we went to Khunia jungle which is North of Murti/NH 31,we went to the watch tower of Khunia and saw elephants.

Jungle of Khunia near Murti Jungle of Khunia near Murti

The meaning of Khunia is "killer". The elephants of this region regularly kills people and thus it got this name. It is one of the oldest sanctuaries in Bengal.

We saw a beautiful sunset there.

Then we went back to our resort. They organize Tribal dance in the evening. Tukuda tried his skill with Dhol with the Tribals. In the evening we had nice chat session (adda) in our resort and we got to know each other better. Palashda, a doctor, is working for Aids Prevention society and knows this place quite well.

12.4.2008

Next day, early morning (5 a.m.) we left for Gorumara Reserve Forest (on NH 31) further South of Murti . Early morning is the time to enter Gorumara Reserve forest and ticket counter opens at around 5.30 a.m. We were the first to enter the forest. There is a forest deptt bungalow inside, but it is very difficult to get the booking. However there are number of Hotels outside Gorumara. The only way you can go inside the forest is by taking a car. You have to see the animals from a balcony which is quite far. The video rates are quite high. You can hardly see the animals from such a long distance. The guide shown us the rhinos , but I could not see it properly , since the animals are quite far the watch tower or balcony. While entering the Park we saw some bison with their distinct while legs. When we went there , there is no elephant safari in the forest , like Jaldapara. (update: I have been told now (2009) there is an elephant safari ). In fact what I found is that it is not a very tourist friendly forest. Kanha is in fact regarded as the most tourist friendly forest in India. But anybody who loves nature will obviously love it. But a question remains is worth so much effort (especially when you compare with other reserve forests like Kanha).

PS: update 2011 : I have been told there is a "Gachbari" bungalow in Gorumara where you can actually do the elephant ride and is apparently very good!

Gorumara Reserve forest from watch tower

Gorumara Reserve forest from watch tower

Then we came back to the Murti Resort . After lunch we left with our baggage to go to Chapramari wilderness camp, where we booked two night. 

Before leaving for Chapramari (which is North of Gorumara and East of Chalsa More, on NH 31C), Anindya joined us from Siliguri. The wilderness camp is on a hill top and isn't  a quite secluded place. It is not quite a "good value for money" at Rs 1600 - 1800 per night.

Around 3.30 pm we went to Chapramari Reserve Forest and went to the Watch Tower to see the animals. All we could see is Gaur (Indian bison). The Reserve forest is unimpressive, although like any forest it has its charm. It is not at all tourist friendly. Just like Gorumara there is forest deptt bungalow beside the watch tower, which is full up most of the times.

In the evening they organized traditional Nepali song and dance at the camp. Lot of people assemble at that place from other resorts. After the Nepalese song we had our adda , song , booze and the poetry session.

13.4.2008

Next day in the morning we went to Jaldhaka and Bindu. Jaldhaka is a hydel power project. They are at the border of Bhutan. After that we came back to Chapramari wilderness camp. In the afternoon we again went to Chapramari reserve forest. The sightings were not good. We again came back and the same routine of Nepalese song was followed.

Near Bindu, Jaldhaka -hydel power project

14.4.2008

Next day (Monday) in the early morning Anindya, Palashda, Mithu left for Siliguri. 

After our lunch we left for Rocky Island - for that you have come to Chalsa More (crossing). From there we went took the route of Samsing via Matelli. While going towards Suntalekhola (meaning of Suntale in Nepali is Orange) a road goes towards Rocky Island. There is no proper road . The road is basically made of boulders! We stayed at Rocky Island Adventure camp - owned by Tukuda's friend Bhajan ( it is given in Outlook travel magazine also; Ph 0353 2641 782, Mobile 9434 012590 ) . We stayed at one of the tents. The place is quite secluded and difficult to get mobile connectivity. You have to cross the bridge to get the connectivity. There is a stream just beside the camp. Tukuda and his friends made merry at the stream!

Rocky Island : our group members in great 'spirit'!

15.4.2008

Next day we left for Suntalekhola and went to see the WBFD tourist lodge. It is indeed located in a enchanting place. After some point of time the cars are not allowed. We walked all the way to the lodge. Then we started our journey to Siliguri. On the way back we stopped our car at Samsing Tea garden. We saw some Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha flags there.

Samsing tea garden

Tea garden workers resting near Samsing on the way to Suntalekhola.

India produces around 950 million Kg of tea, which is 25% of world's production. Again Darjeeling produces around 180 million Kg. It is mostly orthodox variety tea. The premium tea is called Golden flowery orange pekoe;then Golden broken orange pekoe;then fanning and finally dust. The tea prices were down for a very long time. Most of the tea gardens in Dooars (meaning door to Bhutan) are closed or in very bad shape.The workers earn less than $2 / day. There has been cases of suicide among them. Like Darjeeling Dooars tea is itself a brand. The highest price of tea recently has been from the Makaibari Tea estate @ Rs 51,000 per Kg. I have been told by my father's friend , an expert of tea industry, these teas are usually plucked in moon lit night and it needs perfect weather (read mist) to grow something like this.

While coming back we saw some beautiful flowers near Samsing. There are many families who are having a nusery in front of their house. The climate is ideal for nursery.

Orchids near Samsing

After the enjoying tour we were eager to go back to jungle again! But later I understood that Jaldapara , Chilapata , Jayanti and Buxa in the extreme east of North Bengal is surely a better option. In other words, if I have to choose , definitely this is the better option. I am eager to come back to explore this region in my next visit.

Islam - different angle - Khushwant Singh

Prejudice is like poison. Unless purged out of one’s mind in early stages, it can spread like cancer and make one incapable of differentiating between right and wrong. Of the many kinds of prejudice, the worst is to believe that one’s own religion is superior to all others, which may be tolerated but never taken seriously or accepted as equally valid as one’s own.

The most misunderstood of the major religions today is Islam, which, after Christianity, is the second most widely practised religion in the world. It also gains more converts than any of the other religions. Prejudice against Islam was spread in Christendom from the time Muslims gained dominance in the Middle East, North Africa and Spain. Christian crusaders failed in their missions to crush Islam in its homeland but continued to vilify its founder, Mohammed. The emergence of militant Islamic groups like al-Qaida and taliban gave them reasons to do so. The attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington on September 11, 2001 provided fresh ammunition to vilifiers of Islam. Since then Islamophobia has been deliberately spread throughout the non-Muslim world. The two principle contentions of the anti-Islamists are that Islam was spread by the sword and that its founder-prophet was not the paragon of virtue that Muslims make him out to be.

It can be proved by historical evidence that Islam was not forced upon the people; it was readily accepted by millions because it offered them new values, principally equality of mankind and rights to women that were unheard of in those times. In countries like Indonesia and Malayasia, Islam was not forced on the population by Muslim invaders but by Muslim missionaries.

Muslims are extremely sensitive to criticism of their Prophet. A popular adage in Persian is: ba khuda diwaana basho, ba Mohammed hoshiar! — “say what you like about God, but beware of what you say about Mohammed.” They regard him as the most perfect man who ever trod upon the earth, a successor of Adam, Moses, Noah, Abraham and Christ. He was the last of the prophets.

If you honestly want to know how Muslims see him, you ought to take a good look at his life and teachings, which he claimed had been revealed to him by God. It would be as wrong to judge him by the doings of al-Qaida and taliban or by the fatwas periodically pronounced by Ayatollahs and half-baked mullahs.

You do not judge Hinduism of the Vedas and Upanishads by the doings of Hindus who, in the name of Hindutva, destroy mosques, murder missionaries and nuns, vandalize libraries and works of art. You do not judge the teachings of the Sikh gurus by the utterances of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and by the murder of innocents by his hooligans.

Likewise, judge Mohammed by what he taught and stood for and not by what his so-called followers do in his name.

Mohammed was born in Mecca in 570 AD. He lost both his parents while still a child and was brought up by his grandfather and uncle. He managed the business of a widow, whom he later married. She bore him six children. He took no other wife until she died. He was 40 years old when he started having revelations while in trance. They proclaimed Mohammed as the new messiah. Such revelation kept coming at random, sometimes dealing with problems at hand, at other times with matters spiritual. They were memorized or written down by his admirers and became the Quran, which means recitation. It should be kept in mind that Mohammed was not preaching ideas of his own but only reiterating most of what was already in the Judaic creed. Allah was the Arabic name for God before him.

Similarly, Islam was ‘surrender’ and salman was ‘peace’. Mecca was the main market city of the Bedouin tribes. They gathered at the Kaaba, the huge courtyard with the black meteorite embedded in it during two pilgrimages — the bigger Haj and the lesser Umrah. Mohammed accepted Judaic traditions regarding food which is halaal (lawful) or haraam (forbidden, such as pig meat), names of the five daily prayers and circumcision of male children.

Mohammed only asserted the oneness of God that did not accept of any equal such as the stone goddesses worshiped by different tribes. Mohammed never forced people to accept his faith and indeed quoted Allah’s message of freedom of faith. “There must be no coercion in matters of faith — la ikra f’il deen.” Further: “And if God had so willed, He would have made you all one single command; but He willed otherwise in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. Vie, then with one another in doing good works!”

As might have been expected, Mohammed’s mission roused fierce hostility. Many attempts were made to assassinate him but he had miraculously escaped. Ultimately, in 622 AD he was advised to flee from Mecca to Medina. This is know as the Hijra(emigration) and recognized as the beginning of the Muslim calendar. Meccans made a few attempts to capture Medina but were ousted. Muslim armies led by Mohammed triumphed and returned to Mecca as conquerors. By the time Mohammed died in Medina in 632 AD, the Arabian peninsula was united as a confederacy of different tribes under the banner of Islam.

Most of the ill-founded criticism against Mohammed is directed towards the number of women he married after the death of his first wife, Khadijah. This has to be seen in the perspective of Arabian society of the time. Tribes lived by warring against each other and looting caravans. There were heavy casualties of men, creating serious gender imbalance. Widows and orphans of men killed had to be provided with homes and sustenance. Otherwise they took to prostitution or begging. So they were given protection by being taken in marriages. Also, matrimonial alliances were a good way of creating bonds between different tribes. Mohammed did nothing not acceptable to his people.

He went further: he was the first teacher to proclaim that the best union was a monogamous marriage and fixed the maximum limit to four, provided a man could keep all of his wives equally happy — which was most unlikely. The pertinent verse in the Quran reads: “And if you have reason to fear you might not act equitably towards orphans, then marry from among other women who are lawful to you, even two or three or four; but if you have reason to fear you might not be able to treat them with equal fairness, then only one.” Bear in mind that at that time polygamy was the norm in patriarchal societies all over the world.

To make a beginning in clearing your mind of anti-Muslim prejudices, I suggest you read Karen Armstrong’s Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time. Armstrong is the leading writer on comparative religions today. She is not Muslim.

Vedic Astrology

KHUSHWANT SINGH

J. N. Srivastava of Ghaziabad has collected data on predictions made by our leading astrologers which turned out to be false. Some of it makes amusing reading. In January 2004, it was predicted that Aishwarya Rai would marry Vivek Oberoi by the end of the year. She is still unmarried and is engaged to marry, not Oberoi but Abhishek Bachchan, some time this year. When Karisma Kapoor married, Bejan Daruwala predicted she would make an ideal wife: “She got Raja Hindustani and he got Biwi Number One,” he pronounced. A month later, Karisma hauled up her husband to court and gave him a tongue-lashing before the judge. Both are back in happy matrimony. But you have to give it to Daruwala, he lends religious sanction to his predictions by chanting “Sri Ganeshaya Namah”. He is a Parsi. Not to be forgotten are prophecies made about the end of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government before the last elections. It was predicted it would be back in power before the end of 2004. There are as yet no signs of it doing so. Such false prophecies are on the menus of star-gazers’ restaurants every day, but have failed to fill the bellies of our multitudes which continue to hunger for them. Their champion, Murli Manohar Joshi, remains unfazed. When asked, after losing in the election, if he still believed in astrology, he replied emphatically, “Certainly” (pronounced, in Almora accent, ‘suttonly’). The same is true of T.N. Seshan, ex-chief of the Election Commission who failed in his bid to become Rashtrapati, but remains unshaken in his belief in the divine messages sent down by the stars. So all kinds of irrationality thrives: changes of spellings of names (Jayalalitha to Jayalalithaa, Shobha Dé to Shobhaa Dé) altering ingresses to homes and offices and turning around furniture according to vaastu. Unreason manifests itself in numerous ways. Even reminding people that most of our great leaders — Dayanand Saraswati, Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru — disdained astrology as superstition makes no difference. When A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was to be sworn in as president and was asked to suggest an auspicious day, he replied in his gentle manner: “Days and nights are formed by rotation of the earth on its axis. So long as the earth rotates, each day and every moment is auspicious for filing nominations for the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army.” J.V. Narliker, equally eminent Indian scientist in the realm of astronomy, blasted astrological forecasts based on eclipse of the sun. He said, “Eclipses are mere shadows and don’t affect human life in any way. The grounds on which the original beliefs were based have long been debunked.” It might be worth remembering that on August 15, 2001, while M.M. Joshi was still lauding Vedic astrology and mathematics, 128 scientists signed a declaration in Delhi to the effect that “Vedic maths is neither Vedic nor Maths. As such it would be fraud on children to introduce it in their syllabus”. Has the kind of debunking made any difference to astrologers and people who have horoscopes cast on birth to guide them in choosing careers, life-partners or gauging their life-spans? Reason and logic cannot pierce the skulls of the thick-headed; they remain thick-headed to the last even if they manage to live longer than predicted in their horoscopes.

Layman's guide to Bauls and Baul Mela: Kenduli Mela 2007

We went to Kenduli Mela (Baul Mela) by a packaged tour organized by WBTDC.

It is held on the auscipicious occasion of birth anniversary of Poet Joydeb.

Here the largest numbers of Bauls, Fakirs come at different akhras(tent) to sing.

We took a train to go to Shantiniketan.From their WBTDC took us to their WBTDC Tourist lodge.

After lunch we went to the Mela site by the car of WBTDC. We stayed there upto 1230 pm. There is hardly anything to eat or drink. The crowd is not controlled and there is no police to control the traffic.I must say it is highly mis organized. It is not recommendable for that reason.

The mela however was very interesting.

Ajay river just beside Kenduli mela
Ajay river just beside Kenduli mela

A saint blessing Mohua and also composing a song for her instantly.


A saint blessing Mohua

Mask seller in the mela

Beggar

A muslim(Fakir) and a Vaishnavite asking for alms side by side in the mela

Fakir in the mela

Beggar

Kumor Parar gorur gari , bojhai kara kalshi hari, sange chale bhagne madan.....

Terracotta temple beside Ajay river

The origin of the word is Baul is debated. Some modern scholars have suggested that it may be derived either from Sanskrit word vatula, which means(divinely inspired) insane or from vyakula, which means impatiently eager and both of these derivations are consistent with the modern sense of the word, where a person can realize his union with the eternal beloved - the Moner Manush (the man of the heart) .So the word " Baul " refers to three terms : betul, vayu and âuliyâ, a term of Arabic origin, which means " saint ", " holy man ".

The origin of Bauls is not known to any great degree of accuracy, but the word Baul has appeared in Bengali texts as old as the 15th century. The word is found in the Chaitanya-bhagavataof Vrindavanadas as well as in the Chaitanya Charitamrita of Krishnadas Kaviraj. Some scholars, however, maintain that it is not clear when the word took its sectarian significance, as opposed to a synonym for the word mad. Bauls are a part of the culture of rural Bengal. Whatever their origin, Baul thought has mixed elements of Tantra, Sufi Islam, Vaishnavism and Buddhism. They are thought to have been influenced by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas as well as Tantric Buddhist schools like the Sahajia. The baul were recorded as a major sect as early as mid 18th century.

Bauls can come from a Hindu or a Muslim background ; in both cases, they are usually rebels against orthodox practices and social institutions. The reason of that is purely spiritual : they are continuously searching for Adhar Manush, the " Essential Man ", the inner being which is inside of each human body. Baul music celebrates celestial love, but does this in very earthy terms, as in declarations of love by the Baul for his boshtomi or life mate. With such a liberal interpretation of love, it is only natural that Baul devotional music transcends religion and some of the most famous baul composers, such as Lalon Fakir, have been of Muslim faith. Though research says he was a Hindu when he was born.

Originally, the Bauls were nonconformist, who rejected the traditional social norms to form a distinct sect that upheld music as their religion. "Baul" is also the name given to the genre of folk music developed by this creative cult. It's easy to identify a Baul singer from his uncut, often coiled hair, saffron robe covering their body from the shoulder to below the knees (alkhalla), a turban on their head and a mark on their forehead. necklace of beads made of basil (tulsi) stems, and of course the single-stringed guitar (ektara). The costume of the Bauls is very simple. Fakir Bauls prefer plain white cotton.

See this interesting website to know more about the instruments 

http://www.baularchive.com/index.php/instruments/index/7

Bauls live like a community, and their main occupation is the propagation of Baul music. But they are the most non-communal of all communities: They have no religion, for they only believe in the religion of music, brotherhood and peace. Predominantly a Hindu movement, the Baul philosophy weaves together different Islamic and Buddhist strains as well.

Moner Manush - Music of the Heart!

Bauls croon from their hearts and pour out their feelings and emotions in their songs. But they never bother to write down their songs. Theirs is essentially an oral tradition, and it is said of Lalan Fakir (1774 -1890), the greatest of all Bauls, that he continued to compose and sing songs for decades without ever stopping to correct them or put them on paper. It was only after his death that people thought of collecting and compiling his rich repertoire. he created more than 5000 such songs. Lalan Fakir was at the same time a revolutionary and a holy man.

Many Baul gurus were and still are also poets ; In this poetry, the outer meaning looks sometimes very materialistic ; but the inner meaning, which is not accessible to everyone, includes teachings related to notions such as doctrine of the creation of the world, doctrine of the soul, doctrine of the body, doctrine of love etc.

The musical culture and life style of the Bauls has inspired village life in Bengal so deeply that Bengali people have protected Baul practitioners for many centuries. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (13th Century) was the greatest known Baul singer, and he travelled all over India. History counts him as the biggest influence among Baul poets and singers of later generations.

The Bauls uses poetry, dance and singing as tools to reach that goal. Therefore Bauls travel from village to village and sing for the people who would give them alms for the maintenance of their everyday life. Music is their only source of sustenance It is said that Bauls would accept only what they needed and refuse anything more than the strict minimum. Their only possessions were their clothes and musical instruments, as well as their songs and secret practices.

Bauls always sing and dance together in such a way that the mind melts into the soul in a harmonious way.

Baul Gadgets
Bauls use a variety of indigenous musical instruments to embellish their compositions. The "ektara", a one-stringed drone instrument, is the common instrument of a Baul singer. It is the carved from gourd, and made of bamboo and goatskin. Other commonly used musical instrument include "dotara", a multi-stringed instrument ; "dugi", a small hand-held earthen drum; leather instruments like "dhol", "khol" ; chime tools like "ghungur", the bamboo flute etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb4hbFjU9Ic

Origin of Bauls

Bauls are to be found in the Indian state of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh. The Baul movement was at its peak in the 19th and early 20th centuries .

Originally, the district of Birbhum in West Bengal was the seat of all Baul activity. Later the Baul domain stretched to Tripura in the north, Bangladesh in the east, parts of Bihar and Orissa in the west and south respectively. In Bangladesh, the districts of Chittagong, Sylhet, Mymensingh and Tangai are famous for Bauls.

Travelling in local trains (especially to Bauls) and attending village fairs are a good way to encounter Bauls. Bauls from far off places come to participate in the Kenduli Mela and the Pous Mela (much better organized- held in end of third week of December)- the two most important fairs held in West Bengal for Baul music. However one of the biggest festivals for this cult of wandering minstrels is held in the month of January (normally 14^th ) at Kenduli in the Birbhum district, a four-day fest organised in memory of the poet Jayadeva. It's hard to think of Bengali culture sans the Bauls.

Baul Themes

The theme that Bauls deal with in their lyrics is mostly philosophical in the form of allegories on the state of disconnect between the earthly soul and the spiritual world. Often they philosophize on love and the many-splendoured bonds of the heart, subtly revealing the mystery of life, the laws of nature, the decree of destiny and the ultimate union with the divine.

Even today, most Bauls live in small huts ; they live in couples but are not supposed to have children : mostly they adopt abandoned children to whom they teach everything they know. Twice a week, they go to villages to collect food (mostly rice and vegetables). Sometimes they travel from one village to another in order to meet other practitioners. Most of them are also linked to non-singing gurus who teach them different spiritual practices (sadhana) and songs with an inner meaning.

The living space of Bauls is called akhra ; it is somehow like an ashram, with the difference that men and women live together, considering each other as spiritual partners. Most akhras are also meeting places for other sadhakas and sadhikas, male and female practitioners, as well as for sadhus, holy men, wherever they come from.

The Baul Influence

Bengal's greatest poet the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote about the Bauls: "One day I chanced to hear a song from a beggar belonging to the Baul sect of Bengal...What struck me in this simple song was a religious expression that was neither grossly concrete, full of crude details, nor metaphysical in its rarefied transcendentalism. At the same time it was alive with an emotional sincerity, it spoke of an intense yearning of the heart for the divine, which is in man and not in the temple or scriptures, in images or symbols... I sought to understand them through their songs, which is their only form of worship. Who can't trace the influence of Baul songs in Tagore's Rabindra Sangeet? Rabindranath Tagore put the Bauls on a higher-than-respectable level by his praise of the beauty of their songs and spirit, and by his frank and proud acknowledgement of his own poetic debt to them. The Baul pattern also inspired many other successful poets, playwrights and songwriters of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Eternal Entertainers

Bauls are poets, composers, musicians, dancers and actors all rolled into one and their mission is to entertain. Through their songs, pauses, gestures, and postures they spread the message of love and ecstasy to lands far and wide. In a land devoid of mechanical entertainment, Baul singers were a major source of entertainment.

People still love to watch them sing and dance, their narration of folk tales, and even commentary on contemporary issues through highly melodious songs and an extraordinarily high-pitched rendition. Although their lyrics speak the language of the village folks, their songs are appealing to one and all. The songs are simple and direct, profusely emotional, enjoyable, and needs no special knowledge for appreciation.

Baul King!

Lalan Fakir is considered the greatest Baul artiste of all ages, and all other later Bauls regard him as their guru, and sing songs composed by him. Among the contemporary Baul singers, the names of Purna Das Baul, Paban Das Baul are prominent.

Purna Das Baul is undisputedly the reigning king of the Baul clan today. His father, the late Nabani Das "Khyapa", was the most famous Baul of his generation, and Tagore conferred upon him the title "Khyapa", meaning "wild". Purna Das was induced into the folds of the Baul music from his early childhood, and at the tender age of seven, his song won him a gold medal at a music conference in Jaipur.

India's Bob Dylan!

Referred to as the Baul Samrat, Purna Das Baul, introduced Baul songs to the West during an eight-month tour of the US in 1965 with stars like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, et al. Dubbed "India's Bob Dylan" by the New York Times in 1984, Purna Das Baul has played with Bob Marley. Along with sons Krishnendu, Subhendu and Dibyendu, Purna Das Baul is also optimistic about a show with Bob Dylan, the long-time friend of Baul gaan.

Global Bauls!

The famous French Theatre de la Ville invited the global Baul band 'Baul Bishwa' group at its Musiques de Monde (the World Music) meet in Paris. Led by Bapi Das Baul, an eighth generation baul artiste, the group has performed at several places around the world. In this context, the collaborative effort of Paban Das Baul and the British musician Sam Mills ("Real Sugar") to produce Baul fusion music for a global audience is discernable.

In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO. Did you know that Paban Das's music has also been used by Microsoft to represent the music of Bengal in its World CD-ROM Atlas?

One interesting site to know more about the Bauls is : http://www.thetravellingarchive.org/

Shanti Niketan tour

Next day we went for a short tour of Shanti Niketan.It was really nice.

One of the best places to stay is in an artist village Aaro akash

http://aaroaakash.blogspot.com/

Aro Akash , Tel: 9830181462

Rent: Cottage Onek Akash costs Rs. 600

/-; cottage Dokka costs Rs. 400/-; cottagae Ekka costs Rs. 300/-