US First Lady would be treated to songs of Fakir Lalon Shah at Delhi's crafts museum
US First Lady would be treated to songs of Fakir Lalon Shah at Delhi's crafts museumWhen Fakir Lalon Shah, popularly known as Lalon Fakir, wrote his songs on the oppressed and the downtrodden, sitting in a quaint village in West Bengal's Nadia district during the days of the British Raj, little did he know that his songs would be recited one day to the First Lady of the biggest consumer-driven society in the world.
Pearly whites: US First Lady Michelle Obama will visit the National
Handicrafts and Handloom Museum on November 7. But that is exactly what is about to happen. While the President of the United States will not be around, his wife Michelle Obama will have a tuneful of rural Bengal and its folk song. Baul gaan - songs sung by bauls who can be best described as a group of mystic minstrels who roam around singing songs - is what Michelle will be treated to when she visits the National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum at Bhairon Marg near Pragati Maidan on November 7.
A group of baul musicians from West Bengal's Sainthia have already arrived and will be performing for the First Lady. They will be singing songs of Lalon Fakir, including popular ones like Shob loke koy Lalon ki jaat shongshare (Everyone asks what caste Lalon belongs to in this society). The group comprises five musicians and they will be performing at the museum throughout the month. "We have not been told to do anything specific, so we will only sing what we usually sing. But if there are any special requests, we are willing to oblige," said Arun Patua, head of the group.
The First Lady will also be shown documentaries of eight-minutes on handicrafts of India. The museum authorities, though, are yet to finalise on what is to be shown to the First Lady. Security, too, is being beefed up with employees asked to submit valid citizenship documents. "Those with dubious records have been asked not to report for duty on that day," a museum official said, requesting anonymity. Out of a workforce of about 110, 50 will greet the First Lady who will be "gifted something from the textile section."
In the meantime, those who have set up stalls are not too upbeat about the First Lady's visit. When asked if they would gift her something on their own, an artisan from Gujarat said: "Wo to bade log hain. Unko gift deke humein kya fayda hoga. Wo to yaad bhi nahi rakhenge (They are important people. What's the point of giving them gifts? They won't remember us)."
| About Lolon Fakir |
| Fakir Lalon Shah, also known as Lalon Shah, was a Bengali philosopher poet. His poetry, articulated in songs, are considered classics of the Bangla language. Fakir Lalon Shah lived in the village of Cheuria in the area known as Nadia in the Bengal Presidency of British India, corresponding to the district of Kushtia in present-day Bangladesh.
Lalon composed numerous songs and poems, which describe his philosophy. The songs of Lalon give subliminal exposures to the reality/truth that lies beyond our material plane/realism.
Lalon's philosophical expression was based in oral and expressed in songs and musical compositions using instruments that could be made by any rural households from materials available at home: an ektara (one-string musical instrument) and a dugi (hand drum). |
| Quiteu00a0crafty |
| The low-lying building of the National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum, most appropriate for displaying India's rural and tribal arts, is designed by the renowned architect Charles Correa, to act as metaphor for an Indian village street - affable, accommodative and active.
A walk across the Crafts Museum building would be through open and semi open passages covered with sloping, tiled roofs and lined with old carved wooden jharokhas, doors, windows, utensils and storage jars and perforated iron screens; through courtyards having domed pigeon houses adorned with arches and lattice work panels, terracotta shrines dedicated to basil plants, massive temple chariots and vermilion covered anionic wayside altars, providing every now and then a peep through a window into vast museum galleries.
The Scales and proportions of the building are based on those of the traditional Indian village where objects of everyday life are hand made and used. |
