Ancient wisdom of the mystics

Folk music in itself is such a fantastic phenomenon. No one knows when it really began. It came before the Vedic Age and structural configuration of melodies. All other music evolved from it, so it’s vitally important to keep these traditions alive,” says Pooja Shankar, one of the Antarman trio, who have given forms like Baul, Bhatiali and Bihu (from Assam) new life through their half-Hindi, halfBengali compositions.

Pooja met her bandmates, Rahul Mukherjee and Randeep Bhaskar, at a boot camp for a reality show. The three stayed in touch and later when they began making music, they realised that they were all inclined towards folk traditions of music.

“The words of mystics like Lalan Fakir are as important today as they were when he wrote them. In his song, Shomay gele shadhon hobe na, he talks about how one should grab every second for sadhana and not waste any time. This is a universal theme and as a band we try to get these messages to people who don’t listen to Bengali folk because they think it is something only Bengalis can relate to,” says Pooja. Folk music came before the Vedic Age and structural configuration of melodies. All other music evolved from it, so it’s important to keep these traditions alive — POOJA SHANKAR