> SAMA’A: SUFI MUSIC FESTIVAL
The pursuit of a connection with the divine, as exemplified by Sufi music, marks all religious cultures. It is why the mystical school of thought is an ideal go-to for the divisive times in which we live, says Suvarnalata Rao, head of Indian music programming at the city’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). She is the curator of the annual Sufi music festival Sama’a, which will include traditional presentations from Bengal, North Africa, Rajasthan and a contemporary band from Mumbai this year.
Wisdom from Tantric, Sufi, Bhakti and Buddhist philosophies informed the wisdom of Baul fakirs of Bengal, who shared it in song. Parvathy Baul, among the rare women leading the continuation of the art, will sing some compositions that date back to the 15th century. Using spoken word to explain the songs, Baul hopes to invoke the same contemplation among listeners which she experiences while performing.
Hadarrattes Souiriyattesis, an eight-member, all-woman group of musicians from Morocco, will sing traditional songs, made up of zikhrs or chants that gain in speed and eventually induce a trancelike state. The women — described as “a library of old songs” — came together to preserve the music of the Hadra ritual which involves clapping and playing small cymbals and drums.
A desire to show that mystical ideas are relevant even today inspired Neeraj Arya to form the band Kabir Cafe. Where the Mumbai-based band will set the 15th-century poet Kabir’s verses to modern music, ghazal singer Mohammad Vakil will take a more traditional approach in performing the Sufiana writings or kalams of poets from various backgrounds including Amir Khusrau, Guru Nanak and Meerabai. Trained by his uncles, the renowned Hussain brothers of Jaipur, Vakil notes that the future of the Sufi form is safe. “The search for the creator is eternal. So this music will never end.”
THE VISUAL ART INSTALLATIONS THIS YEAR WILL EXTOL THE VIRTUES OF ‘UNITY IN DIVERSITY’, DUE TO THE CURRENT STRIFE IN THE COUNTRY