Rooh ji Rehan Music and Poetry
While all stories of origin spring from people’s faith in the Sagun (the form filled material god, a saint, the original man who leads the herd, or the mythical deities who protect them and their life world), the music and poetry of pastoralists in Kachchh liberate them from their own stories of origin. It frees them from all material references of who they are and where they came from even as their music carries them into a deep mystical connection with the formless divine (Nirgun), leading them to a state of utter surrender and love.
Most nomadic pastoralists occupy two spaces – one of complete solitude with the self, and one of non-self, in the shared commons. At all times, they hold space alone and together. Their utterance of the self and non-self, of solitude and the Commons, springs from a spiritual oneness with the divine. With Nature. While their stories of origin locate them in a territory, on a land, their music and poetry steer them through that land, lovingly showing them the way by which they recognize who they truly are. Keeping alive their eternal tryst with the Rooh (soul).
Saidu Ibrahim, a singer from Dhumado, becomes one with the grasslands of Banni as he signs Bhitai. His earthy voice reverberates with tranquility as he signs about his native lands and animals.
Sumar Kadu Jat, Mitha Khan & his fellow Waee singers come from Bhagadiya, Kutch. They are keeping a complex form of singing that involves high pitched calls to god; a way to express the deepest desires to the almighty.
Our curators have selected the most cutting, the most expressive, and the most stirring poetry from the lands of Kutchi-Sindhi pastorals.
Welcome to the Rooh Ji Rehan- a gathering of souls- where poems, songs and stories shared, questions asked, yearnings expressed. Cast the gaze of a poet around you and every element of the landscape- moon, mountain, camel, cloud, hurricane or river- begins to glow with hidden meanings. We hear many voices here- Sindh, Kutchi, Gujarati, Hindi- some of recent poets and some of poets who lived many centuries ago, who stay alive because they are sung, shared and quoted in the day to day lives of the herder communities of Kutch.
So take a pause. Allow stillness. Move with heart. Let the songs speak to your soul.
The curation of this section was facilitated by Soorvani, Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, and Kanir Project, Srishti Manipal Institute of Art,Design, and Technology.
All artworks by Roy Varghese