The violence and atrocities that surround our daily lives tell us every day that evolution has wasted itself on us. We are no better than we were when we thought we had stepped towards a “civilized” society.
This sameness means our struggles are the same as they were hundreds of years ago. This sameness also means India’s 16th century Bhakti poet Kabir remains as relevant as he was hundreds of years ago.
Here are six different renditions of Kabir’s verses by different musicians, each of who could adopt Kabir into their own genre and style of music. While the voices are different but the messages remain same: a society removed from the distinctions of caste, class and creed.
1. The album No Stranger Here was a collaborated project between Shubha Mudgal, Ursula Rucker and Business-Class Refugees with songs based on the poetry of Kabir. This song “When I Was” recounts the famous lines by the Indian poet, “Jab main tha tab Hari nahin‚ Ab Hari hai main nahin (When I was there God wasn’t, Now God’s there I am not).”
2. “Sadho Re” remains one of the most popular numbers of the Indian rock band Agnee. The song uses Kabir’s verses:
“Sadho Re, Yeh Murdon Ka Gaon
Yeh Murdon Ka Gaon
Peer Mare, Paigambar Mari Hain
Mar Gaye Zinda Jogi
Raja Mari Hain, Parja Mari Hain
Mar Gaye Baid Aur Rogi”
(Keep in mind, this is a village of the dead.
The saints have died,
Dead are the living mendicants,
The ruler is dead, dead are the ruled,
Dead are the physicians and the patients.)
3. Considered one of the pioneers of the genre of fusion rock, it was only natural that Indian Ocean would build on Kabir. Here’s “Jhini Re”, a song most of us who grew up in the good MTV era would know by heart.
4. Neeraj Arya’s band Kabir Café is an interesting project focused solely on the poet. Formed in 2013, the four-member band includes Raman Iyer, Mukund Ramaswamy and Viren Solanki and they aim to create a dialogue between Kabir’s verses and today’s audience. They even call their brand of music “Kabir Rock”.
Here’s their “Halke Gaadi Haako” which talks steadiness in a world of rat racing.
5. Sonam Kalra and the Sufi Gospel Project take the Christian hymn “Abide with Me” and combine it with Kabir’s “Moh ko kahaan dhunde re bande, main toh tere paas mein (where do you look for me, when I am always with you).”
6. Bangalore-based folk/ fusion band Swarathma’s “Yeshu Allah aur Krishna” is special because it is constantly interrupted by pravachans, similar to the structure of Bhakti Geets, where they break away from the tune to shower words of wisdom on the audience. Swarathma constantly reminds you that nothing has changed in centuries since Kabir, and we are still as barbaric as a society. The poet will always remain relevant because, in their words, “Kabir koi banta nahi, Kabir toh hota hai bas (No one becomes Kabir, Kabir just happens).”