Kahe Kabir

Bringing home Kabir

The Poet The name Kabir is deeply etched in the psyche of the Indian people, especially in the Hindi speaking belt of the North. Though he lived more than six hundred years ago his poetry in the form of songs, padas and dohas is a living tradition by itself. The poetic voice of Kabir is at once a symbol of Indias rich multicultural heritage as also its secular and tolerant spiritual ethos. Here is an opportunity to engage in this learning with one Kabir singer- Naheed Prateeksha. The Musician Naheed Prateeksha has been trained in the Hindustani style of classical music for over two decades and foremost influences in her singing come from Sh.Ashoke Kumar Dasgupta (disciple of Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan Saheb and his son Ustad Ishtiaq Hussain Khan of Rampur Sahaswan gharana) Smt. Madhuri Dandage (disciple of Smt Manik Verma) and Kum. Amarjeet (disciple of Pt. Amarnath-ji of Indore gharana tradition) In 2000, Prateeksha released the first of her Kabir albums in two volumes, titled Kahe Kabir and subsequently it became a four CD-album, with the addition of two more volumes. There were a total of 24 bhajans in those. By now her Kabir repertoire is nearly double this; not including dohas and khyal compositions in classical ragas done using Kabirs poetry. The artist has been singing and performing Kabir for nearly a decade now; with a repertoire that not only includes her own compositions set to different Hindustani ragas and talas, but also offers exposure to the Kabir singing of several other classical musicians. Her bhajans have been sung on myriad forums including the All India Radio, ICCR concerts, lectures, presentations, as part of conferences in India and overseas.

Naheed Prateeksha, in addition to being a Kabir singer, works with Hansadhwani Foundation- a non- profit committed to working in education and health through the performing and visual arts. The organization endeavours to bridge gaps between tradition and modernity and is an effort to make tradition more accessible and relevant, as, where and when possible.

The Workshop Kabir lives in the hearts of Indians everywhere. Yet in modern living of metropolitan India that tradition has lost its continuity, while it still lives in the rural folk in one or another way. Therefore there is a scope to revive the oral tradition of Kabir and other poets by attempts to learn, sing and appreciate Kabir; for not only does it keep a tradition alive, it also offers an alternative culture to people around to engage with and understand what is the plurality which our nation represents. Bringing home Kabir means creating spaces to get Kabir once again in the throats of everyone, understanding the secular Hindu-Muslim traditions and creating bridges to create joy, create peace and to create the India we all hope to live in. It also offers the scope of joint learning of singing and the joy congregational singing brings. The design of this workshop is flexible yet it has been conceptualized to bring to the participants two-fold learning: of Indian Music and the poetry of Kabir. Depending upon audience, location and targeted outcomes, the rest would have to be customized according to the group. For example the manner of teaching school children would be different from how university students would be taught, or even those interested in bhakti singing. A typical workshop would include the following; with minor variations1. Introduction 2. Thematic delineation and choosing of bhajans/dohas/padas 3. Explanation of meanings of bhajans 4. Teaching, with explanation of ragas (if any) and talas used 5. Revision