These are the days when I am again captured by the profound philosophy of Indian Sufism. The philosophy that brings people close. Indian Sufism is a version of Islam that is tolerant, non-orthodox and more human-centered. A beautiful poetic paradigm that convinces that love for a fellow being is no less than love for God.
I was introduced to Bulleh Shah's verses when I heard of the Song "Bullah ki Jana" by Rabbi Shergill. It was the music that attracted me, I barely understood a word. I dig up the lyric, and tried to understand, but realized that I am not at all aware of Punjabi language(or any of its dialects - Saraiki, Multani). I only partially understood it, but felt that I followed the underlying philosophy. There were few hunches for some words, few intuitions associated with the over all message, but still it went deep down somewhere in my conscious thought process.
There are no limits in Bulleh Shah's eccentric way of expression. He understood before anyone that to stop the brutal communal violence in Punjab, he has to spread the message of Love in the most radical and passionate way possible. He understood the fact that every religion teaches only one lesson, just the ways are different. He also made efforts through his writings, to bring down the supremacy of Religious authorities by educating people that Religion divides. Perhaps, the most radical verse he wrote, for which people threw stones at him, goes as :
There are no limits in Bulleh Shah's eccentric way of expression. He understood before anyone that to stop the brutal communal violence in Punjab, he has to spread the message of Love in the most radical and passionate way possible. He understood the fact that every religion teaches only one lesson, just the ways are different. He also made efforts through his writings, to bring down the supremacy of Religious authorities by educating people that Religion divides. Perhaps, the most radical verse he wrote, for which people threw stones at him, goes as :
Masjid dha de, mandir dha de, dha de jo kucch dhainda
Par kisi da dil na dhain, Rab dilan vich rehnda..
Par kisi da dil na dhain, Rab dilan vich rehnda..
He felt that religion was becoming more of a political tool at that period, though he also had the wisdom of knowing that all religions are evolved from and are complicated scripted manifestations of a single human emotion of Love. He strongly brought the basics of religion in one of his verse as:
Asaan ishq namaaz jadon neetee ay,
tadoon bhul gaye mandar maseeteay(masjid).
tadoon bhul gaye mandar maseeteay(masjid).
One verse that is one of my personal favorite is :
Chal Bulleya Chal Othe Chaliye Jithe Saare Anneh(blind)
Naa Koi Sadi Zaat Pechaaneh Naa Koi Sanu Manneh(worship)
I wish I could put all of his compositions as my interpretations. Perhaps my small Punjabi scripted diary is better place for that.
Abida is an artist beyond my meager intellect. I can not describe her in words. What I can feel is that she inspires me when Life is devoid of colors. She motivates me when I am stressed. She brings tears in my eyes whenever she sings a verse so meticulously, that the words directly touch me at the deepest places in my heart. At the same time, there is always something beautiful and inspiring message that brings a subtle smile on my face. It is a purely divine experience when warm tears roll down the smiling cheeks and mind goes into a completely unknown sublime dimension. Her passion for music is so profound that she let her voice reach the extremities of her vocal spectrum. This brings a huge variety in her repertoire. She sings Ghazal with a supreme delicacy, and a Sufi kalam in her voice seems like a divine manifestation.
Music to Lyrics is just like Spices is to Food. Body needs only food, but spicing it up catalyzes the process. Similarly, music helps in propagating and acceptance of words. Bulleh's writings when treated with the mesmerizing voice of Abida creates nothing less than ambrosia. Here is one of her musical compositions that I might have listened to about 100 times:
Now, when I have ample time to explore the mystic revelations of Bulleh Shah's verses, I could not resist myself in delving into Punjabi language. Punjabi in written form, can be seen in either GuruMukhi (popular on east side, India) and ShahMukhi( on the west side, pakistan). Gurumukhi is derived from devnagri script, while Shahmukhi is from arabic/persian script. To me the obvious choice was the former one, as it was somewhat familiar and potentially easy to grasp. It was not at all hard in the beginning, or may be the zeal for learning was so strong that everything looked effortless. In just 2 days (a weekend) of rigorous cramming of letters and practice, I was able to read and write with acceptable amount of errors. A few websites helped me a lot in learning it fast, and a small chart that I made to map Devnagri-Gurumukhi letters, really made things simple.
My obsession for Punjabi is at peak these days. One of my wish is to read the Punjabi novel Pinjar, by Amrita Pritam, in its original form. The movie based on the same name deeply inspired me to get an original copy 2 years back. Now when I have learned Punjabi and residing in Punjabi dominant region (Haryana was previously part of Punjab) I could not find a copy at an y shop, mall or library in this city. Not even on internet I could locate one.
Another writer that caught my attention is Shiv Kumar 'Batalvi'. Though his compositions that I have heard are quite different from the themes of Bulleh Shah or Amrita Pritam, they are quite rich and highly symbolic where a feeling/experience is occasionally objectified to give more creative space to the author.
I don't know what changed me so much since past few years, I don't know if it is for better or worse, but I know for sure that I feel more energetic, exuberant and passionate about a lot of things which were not at all part of my life. I think this might be a form of "Happyness" that I always looked out for.
Now, when I have ample time to explore the mystic revelations of Bulleh Shah's verses, I could not resist myself in delving into Punjabi language. Punjabi in written form, can be seen in either GuruMukhi (popular on east side, India) and ShahMukhi( on the west side, pakistan). Gurumukhi is derived from devnagri script, while Shahmukhi is from arabic/persian script. To me the obvious choice was the former one, as it was somewhat familiar and potentially easy to grasp. It was not at all hard in the beginning, or may be the zeal for learning was so strong that everything looked effortless. In just 2 days (a weekend) of rigorous cramming of letters and practice, I was able to read and write with acceptable amount of errors. A few websites helped me a lot in learning it fast, and a small chart that I made to map Devnagri-Gurumukhi letters, really made things simple.
My obsession for Punjabi is at peak these days. One of my wish is to read the Punjabi novel Pinjar, by Amrita Pritam, in its original form. The movie based on the same name deeply inspired me to get an original copy 2 years back. Now when I have learned Punjabi and residing in Punjabi dominant region (Haryana was previously part of Punjab) I could not find a copy at an y shop, mall or library in this city. Not even on internet I could locate one.
Another writer that caught my attention is Shiv Kumar 'Batalvi'. Though his compositions that I have heard are quite different from the themes of Bulleh Shah or Amrita Pritam, they are quite rich and highly symbolic where a feeling/experience is occasionally objectified to give more creative space to the author.
I don't know what changed me so much since past few years, I don't know if it is for better or worse, but I know for sure that I feel more energetic, exuberant and passionate about a lot of things which were not at all part of my life. I think this might be a form of "Happyness" that I always looked out for.
