A four-day festival in honour of mystic poet Kabir

Sanjukta Wagh and Vedanth Bharadwaj

Now in its seventh edition, The Kabir Festival Mumbai began in 2011 as a journey of a few hopeful seekers who wanted to share soulful music and the message of mystic poets. "The thoughts that these poets shared, continue to remain relevant today. When there are people from a variety of backgrounds and communities living together, it is recipe for trouble. The words of saints like Kabir help us recognise our common humanity. It is important to keep reminding people of this, especially in today's turbulent times," says Falguni Desai, trustee of Sahej Foundation, a registered charitable trust that organises the fest. "We have tried to weave the message of the poet-saints into the spirit of the festival by making decisions to make the festival inclusive, free for all, community-funded (versus corporate-funded), volunteer-run. It will span across the city," she shares. The events will be held at venues in Fort, Babulnath, Bhendi Bazaar, Byculla, Bandra, Ghatkopar, Juhu, Borivali, Kandivali and Thane.

Parvathy Baul and Prahlad Singh Tipaniya

The festival was set up with the help of volunteers who provided time, expertise and facilities coupled with a shoestring budget funded by the Kabir community of Mumbai, which consists of ordinary citizens and like-minded, community-based hospitality associates. So far, the festival has spread the words of poet-saints to NGO spaces, colleges, cafés and institutions through folk-style bhajans, abhangs, qawwalis, baul songs sung by rural and urban artistes from around the country, films, stories, dance, discussion and dialogue.

This year, the line-up has over 30 artistes and 16 events spread over 14 venues. "We do not have the funds to offer large compensation to artistes but manage to give them an honorarium. Most associate with us because there is a common motivation and shared values. Some of them have been with us since the festival's inception. For example, we can't imagine the festival without Padma Shri Prahlad Singh Tipaniya, who sings bhajans in the Malwi tradition and about his journey with Kabir," says Desai, also a full-time solicitor.

In this edition of the festival, you can enjoy poetry of the women warkaris sung by Carnatic trained singer Shruthi Vishwanath, Qawwalis explored by artistes Dev Narayan Sarolia, Bindhu Malini Narayanaswamy, Vedanth Bharadwaj, Vijay Tipaniya, Ajay Tipaniya and Dharmendra Tipaniya (who are from different classical and folk music traditions), a presentation on the life and poetry of Lalon Fakir by Parvathy Baul; Jheeni, an interpretation of Kabir and Warkari poets in Kathak by Sanjukta Wagh with Shruthi Vishwanath on vocals, and Meera Bai's poetry and on the Punjabi Sufis presented by Radhika Sood Nayak.

The festival will also include Dastangoi Ankit Chadha's stories of living lightly on this earth, and two workshops - singing and understanding Kabir with Padmashri Prahlad Singh Tipaniya and a music workshop for children with Vedanth Bharadwaj and Shruthi Vishwanath. A performance by The Manzil Mystics, a Delhi-based band of youngsters who work with the NGO Manzil and are inspired by Kabir's poetry also promises to be impressive. They write their lyrics drawing inspiration from the mystic poets.