This Kabir for Szymborska

“I cannot speak for more than an hour exclusively about poetry. At that point, life itself takes over again”: Szymborska

Wislawa Szymborska, the Polish poet, one of the most important writers of our times died at the age of 88. When she was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1996, the award committee related the poet not to any of the poets of the past, but to two great musicians of the world. She was described as "Mozart of poetry" but with "something of the fury of Beethoven".

Let me dedicate these Kabir lyrics sung by Pt. Kumar Gandharva, the singer of many of the modern Indian poets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY2k0JcfByg

Have a nice day

Experiencing Tranquility

This rag is named as Kabiri Bhairavi.While listening to this reflective or introspective rendering of Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur, I was thinking how much Kabir could be in me….Once Kabir himself has said that “All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop.” I am sure, Kabir has merged into tiny drops like all of us and that is why the world of love and co-existence quietly flows for ages amidst all aberrations of violence in history. Please listen to this Kabir Bhairavi and experience the essence of tranquility

http://audiofarm.org/audiofiles/13322

Birth of an unforgettable Bhajan

In 1999, Pt Kumar Gandharva said about a deep process by which he selected a Kabir Bhajan to sing:

“ The choice of some poems also depends on the tempo. At a certain moment it comes before me as a song…how the vowels and consonants fall, what it is saying, and how what it says come forth through the tempo. To sing a bhajan with a good voice is one thing, but to really express it is something totally different. There is one bhajan, ‘Maya mahaa thagani ham jaani’ ( Maya’s the great swindler- now I know), and a similar one, ‘Ramaiah ki dulhan luta bazaar’ ( Ram’s bride has looted the market). Both of these bhajans, Kabir express the same idea, but the meters are different. I took up ‘Maaya mahaa thagani’. From a musical point of view, what is being said comes across better in that one. A couple of years passed, and it was still sitting there. It did not click. After about two-and –a- half years, it took shape. It was beautiful” (Ashok Vajpeyi, 1999)

And here is the Bhajan:

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