(Click on CC for subtitles in Hindi)
(भजन के बोल देखने के लिए CC पर क्लिक करें)
I asked, ‘is aught more radiant than when the moon shines?’
‘Yes’, he replied, ‘this countenance of mine’
‘And is ought sweeter than sugar in the land?’
He declared, ‘my words make sugar seem bland’
‘What is death for a lover?’, asked I
‘Separation from the beloved’, was the reply
‘What of the pains of life, can there a cure be?’
‘For you’, he spoke, ‘it is the sight of me’
I said, ‘art thou of the houri or pari?’
‘I am the lord of them all’, said he
These beautiful verses describe the helplessness and anguish of a lover towards the beloved. The role of lover as the tormented and the beloved as tormentor in the dialectic of love is a familiar theme in Sufi poetry. Hazrat Amir Khusrau also follows sufi poetic tradition and this is an exclamation of his devotion to his spiritual master, Hazrat Nizamuddin of Delhi, and the love spoken, is of a spiritual and sacred kind.
Hazrat Nizamuddin dearly wanted his sister's son to succeed him but his untimely death at a young age deeply affects the saint. Khusrau visits the khanqah(hospice) everyday to lift up the spirits of his master. One day when Khusrau visits the hospice, the attendees tell him that the master is at the Chabutra-i-yaara, a graveyard where the dear ones of the saint are buried. Khusrau decides to go behind his master. On his way he sees some Hindu passersby with bright yellow flowers in their hand. They tell Khusrau about the purpose of flowers, that it will be placed at the feet of the revered Devi, on the pious occasion of Basant Panchami.
Khusrau also fetch flowers, donne himself in a yellow sari, starts singing and dancing all his way to the graveyard. On seeing him from a distance, a faint smile settles on the saint's lips. Upon reaching nearer, he ask Khusrau about the flowers. He explains that the flowers are for him because for Khusrau, Hazrat Nizamuddin is the most revered and dearest one. This beautiful Urdu Gazal is in the question and answer format, where both the aspects are penned down by Khusrau only. Behind this masterpiece is the stunning trio consisting of Bindhu Malini, Ankit Chadha, and Vedanth Bharadwaj.
Bindhu Malini is a singer trained in both Carnatic and Hindustani music and hails from a family of musicians. She has composed and sung for jingles and films in Hindi, Kannada, and Tamil. Since 2014, Bindhu has also been part of a musical narrative on Hazrat Amir Khusrau.
Ankit Chadha was known for his unique style of storytelling in Urdu and had performed at various national and international stages, including universities like Harvard, Yale, and Toronto.
An alumnus of the Trinity College London, Vedanth Bharadwaj is an Indian vocalist and music composer who is best known for his songs and poems from the Bhakti movement.
Listen to this beautiful Qawwali and explore the subtle beauty of Amir Khusrau's works.
Vocal- Bindhu Malini
Ankit Chadha
Vedanth Bharadwaj
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Rajasthan Kabir Yatra is a 7 days-long annual traveling folk music festival spread across six rural and urban locations in and around Rajasthan. Organized by Lokayan, Bikaner and partnered with Rajasthan Police, this is a folk festival providing a space where folk musicians, artists, scholars, students, and seekers can immerse themselves in the voices of Bhakti and Sufi saint-poets such as Kabir, Mira, Bulleh Shah, and many more, questioning and dissolving boundaries of caste, class, religion, and identity.
The five editions, in 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019 were widely chronicled and appreciated. It brought together 50 artists, over 400 Yatris every year from other parts of India, and thousands of local audiences.
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Video Credits:
Camera: Madhur Vyas, Sharad Bissa, Ravi Maru, Neeraj Khatri, Himanshu Gehlot, Varun Godara
Editing: Deepanshu Tiwari & Gopal Singh Chouhan
Subtitling: Riya Damani
Collection: The Lokayan, Bikaner
Place: Rawala
Event: Rajasthan Kabir Yatra
Date: 13 November 2016