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When the heart sings, the soul dances and the scenes get captured on a canvas. It was one such evening when great artists came together to pay tributes to a saint who is remembered for his iconic legacy of Sufi poetry.
Manjari Chaturvedi, a veteran Kathak performer and the show director of “O’ BULLAYAH” performed at India Habitat Centre this week in Delhi, invoked Rumi as she began introducing Baba Bulleh Shah. Both the names are familiar to those for whom Sufi poetry is a balm for the weary soul. But Rumi’s poetry, she rightly pointed out, has been more accessible on ‘social media’ than that of Baba Bulleh Shah.
While Rumi, one of the one most widely read poets in the world, was a 13th century Persian Sufi mystic, it goes without saying that despite living in a separate part of the world hundreds of years later (18th century Punjab), Baba Bulleh Shah demonstrated a similar passion for surrender to love in his writings. Both the mystics were believed to have much in common and evoked similar sort of reverence among their followers during their lifetime and after.
Yet as Manjari pointed out, access to Baba Bulleh Shah’s work has been relatively limited as compared to Rumi. However, her mesemerising dance moves, Ranjhan Ali’s enchanting qawalis with his group and Siddharth’s magic of live painting induced life in the verses of 18th century revolutionary philosopher often hailed as “The Father of Punjabi Enlightenment”.
The mystic is remembered for fighting evils of casteism and shunning down religious rituals. Unorthodox in his approach of seeking the divine, his verses are even more relevant today.
“Na main momin vich maseeta
Na mai vich kufr diyaan reetan
Na mai paakan vich paleetan
Na mai Musa na Firaun
Bulleh ki jana mai kaun
(Neither am I a believer in the mosque
Neither am I an infidel
Neither amongst the virtuous nor amongst the sinners
Neither am I Moses nor the Pharaoh
Bulleh, who knows who I am)”
As she concluded the show, Manjari Chaturvedi underlined the passion of performers of three religions united in their artistic pursuit on the stage even if the divided times try to put a spotlight on the differences.
