O Re Mon Tui Ki Korili
Poet: Swarup | Performer: Madan Das Bairagya
Madan Das Bairagya was born in 1950, in Maltipara Kandi. He is the son of the legendary Baul Guru Shri Shashanko Goshai and Guruma Banamala Dashi. In the early years, he did many kinds of jobs, including tailoring. He then took interest and performed in folk theatre of Poncho Roser Gan. He was drawn to the Baul path after meeting his diksha guru Srimon Thakur, at Keshab Bharati Asram in Katoa, Burdwan. Madan’s siksha guru was Ramkrishna Goshai from Tehotto, Nodia, but his main repertoire and learning of his music comes from his father Shashanko Goshai. Madan looks after the Goshai Ashram in Murshidabad. He accompanies himself with the instruments anandalahari and nupur. He is also revered as a Baul Guru.
In this video, he sings the poem 'O Re Mon Tui Ki Korili' (O my mind, what have you done?) by the poet Swarup. This song belongs to the Group of songs titled Mono Shikha, which could be translated as Conversation with the self. This song is very non-conformist in nature, and can sound counter-traditional, but the uniqueness of the Baul songs is to hold many layers of meaning. Towards the end of the song, one can find complete compassion and melting of the heart of a Bhakta. The Baul masters shared their inner experiences through their poems, which is spoken in a straight simple language, using examples and metaphors from everyday life and this song too resonates this aspect.
He is accompanied by Lokhon Das Baul on the dubki and Satyananda Das Baul on the ektara. This song was performed during an evening session during the Baul Gyan Darpan 2017, at Ekathara Kalari, Trivandrum.
Video Credits
Camera and Sound Recording - Aarthi Parthasarathy, Polash Chowdhury
Audio Mastering - Arjun Chandran
Edit - Aarthi Parthasarathy
Translation - Parvathy Baul
Colour Grading and Subtitles - Meghna Menon
Animation and Titles - Chaitanya Krishnan
Produced by Falana Films
About Ekathara Kalari
Ekathara Kalari is a space for sadhakas(practitioners) from the traditional knowledge streams of art, spirituality, theatre, puppetry, music and healing. Merging the concepts of the ‘Akhara’, a space for Baul practitioners from the Bengali tradition, and the ‘Kalari’, the traditional Kerala theatre practice space. It was founded by Shri. Ravi Gopalan Nair and Smt. Parvathy Baul in 1997.
Sanatan Siddhashram is the Gurukul near Shantiniketan, Bengal, that will house all the work of Ekathara Kalari. It will be active as a vibrant space that embodies inner practice in all forms of artistic and spiritual exploration, based on the foundation of healthy and holistic living.
This channel is a space to share works, conversations and knowledge in the form of a video and audio archive from practitioners of Spirituality, Art Creation and Holistic Healing traditions from India and across the world, with emphasis on the Baul Tradition. Works published through this channel would be essentially projects undertaken by Ekathara Kalari.