SOUVIK CHAKRABORT Y
T HE UNFORGETTABLE ARTIST
Ever wondered why you are always hooked
to songs like Dum Dum Mast Qalandar,
Tere Ishq Nachaya, Mera Piya Ghar Aya,
Bandeya, Bulleya and the likes. Isn't it
intriguing that these songs, though being
folk in their nascent stage had been the
staple crop of Bollywood for a long time. It
is not even like tasting old wine in a new
bottle, but it is like a slowly cooked steak
oozing with goodness in every slice.
Ignorant as we are, the true genius of these
songs are never learned, read or talked
about in the popular media. Bulleh Shah
is one such gem that the Sufi music is
indebted to and so should we be because
all those four songs mentioned above
are but only some of the songs rendered
by none other than the king of Sufi.
He had always been inspired by the concept
of love. Born in the land of the five rivers,
Punjab; this man had dreamt of an unified
belief in God and religion in his entire
life. He was thinking of secularism at a
time when the concept was a farfetched
ideology even in the ecclesiastical sphere.
What this man in Lahore was doing in
the 17th century was almost at par with
the volumes of philosophies baptized by
stalwarts like Rosseau, Kant and Voltaire.
The Sufi saints of the time did speak the
tongue of the common men in their poetries,
their language was not the ornate language
of the elites. Bulleh Shah himself used to
write in the kafi refrain because Persian and
Urdu were considered to be too formal and
soon languages like Sindhi, Sariaki etcetra
took its place in the poetries of the time.
He was an active writer. Shah Inayat
Qadiri became Bulleh Shah's spiritual
philosopher, guide and teacher.
Perhaps, this is the time that he questioned
for the first time the epistemology of our
existence and the perception of religion
in all of us. All his philosophies and lyrics
centred around this cardinal question on
how and what is the meaning of us and how
do we exist; what even is the central theme
of the Universe? In understanding this,
he totally shoos away even the religious
leaders and their little preaching, to give
way to a radically independent way of
communication that speaks of the amnesty
between the various religious beliefs
rather than just prophesying diktats. The
cadence of his words still resonate through
the Universe; simple and poignant.
Ranjha Ranjha kardi ni mein aape
Ranjha hoi (Uttering 'Ranjha' over and
over, I have become Ranjha myself)
It is interesting to note, that Bollywood had
scooped the best out of his lyrics; ages after
the premise and the pretext of the verses have
ceased to exist. An absolute eternal bliss!
For example lines written at the time of
the decline of the Persian aristocracy
("Ishq di navion navin bahar" / "Love
is blooming on every turn") makes way
into our record setting chartbusters!
Call it "Rab da Bhana" or a spiritual epiphany,
the soulful music of Bulleh Shah was also
inspired from the great Aamir Khursau!
"Dam Dam mast Qalandar" is an exemplary
artefact of the fact that Bull eh Shah was open
to experimentations and improvisations.
Though Sufism is a pure interiorization
of the Islamic faith, Bulleh Shah takes it
to another level by adding both "intuitive
and emotional faculties" in his phrases. As
far as the grammar of Sufi is concerned, he
forayed through the four stages of Sufism -
Shariat (Path), Tariqat (Observance),
Haqiqat (Truth) and Marfat (Union).
Thus, Bulleh Shah is a humanist, an artist
in the truest sense who did not limit himself
to upholding or discrediting the norms; but
in fact found a way for self expression.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
21