Here To Stay: Spectacular Visions Featuring Kabir Mandlis (MP) and Waai Singers (Kutch, Gujarat)

October Jam presents HERE TO STAY: CONCERT 1 KABIR MANDLIS AND WAAI SINGERS This concert was pre-recorded as an effort to support folk and protest musicians and their livelihood, in the aftermath of the Covid 19 lockdown. All contributions from ticket sales went directly to the artists. About the Waai singers: Waai music originated in Balochistan, Sindh, about 300 years ago during the time of the great Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. The reciting of the Bhitai’s mystic poetry is called Waai. The Waai’s are composed in a dastaan (narratives) known as Risalo. Risalo means a ‘Message’.Waai in total has 30 surs, narrating the journeys of seven female protagonists, namely – Marvi, Momal, Sassi, Noori, Sohni, Sorath and Lila – whose lives were tormented with pain and hardships. The poetry is sung in praise of their courage, love, and integrity in the face of adversity. These songs, sung by a group of highly trained Fakirs, are allegorical in nature. The fakirs sing these songs with soulfulness and pain narrating our souls’ evolution and its true yearnings through the stories and journeys of these 7 chief female characters. It requires deep knowledge and understanding of Bhitai’s poetry and philosophy to be able to emote its profound meaning. Waai is distinctive than any other music form. The Waai performers render a unique fakiri hue to the Waai poetry. The fakirs of Bhitai perform Waai on Thursday nights – Jumme ki Raat – the night before Jummah, Friday. This ritual is observed even today. The artists who perform Waai are descendants of those fakirs who learned Waai directly from Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai during its formative years. This knowledge passed on from generation to generation orally. Today, only 5 artists are left who can perform Waai who are from Bagadiya village of Banni grasslands, Kutch. They belong to the Jat community – the traditional nomadic pastoralists, also known as ‘Maldhari’ locally. We learnt that the Waai singers have not performed since January 2020, the pandemic has made it difficult to find performance avenues. When they heard the possibility of doing an online show, they were excited to experiment with something completely unfamiliar. They were sure they wanted to perform Sur Sarang. Sur Sarang' is a sur in which a bird waits patiently for the rain. The Waai singers are happy to receive unprecedented rain this year; for them and their animals. They believe the rains are a favourable sign for the future. Though inside all is overcast, outside from every cloud is free... Lightning's mature within, in whom Love doth resides eternally... Their eyes shall never rainless be. Translated by Elsa Kazi In this concert, they will be presenting four surs - Sur Sarang, Sur Marui, Sur Khahori & Sur Lilan Chanesar, which explores different threads of human existence - love, nature, co-existence and after life.We also learnt that Mitha Khan will be joining to perform with Sumer Khan, Sareef and Bhachaya after two years, which they also believe is a good sign. Special thank you to Asif Ryama for enabling this production. About the Kabir Mandlis क्या लेके आया बन्दे, क्या लेकर जायेगा। दो दिन की जिन्दगी है, दो दिन का मेला। Kabir's dohas speak of the fragility of our existence. From the moment we are born, we know we have to die. Why then, do we protect ourselves so selfishly? Why then, do we hoard and accumulate? Kabir's words resonate closely this year, as we are reminded of the precarity of the lives we live. Madhya Pradesh has a rich history of Kabir Mandlis, groups that have been performing Kabir's dohas and bhajans. In recent years, we have seen a right-wing appropriation of this form. Many performances have explicit colourings of Hindutva ideology and a celebration of Hinduism in its most divisive and rigid form. We have had the opportunity to work closely with a few Kabir Mandlis who are trying to sustain the honesty and fearlessness of Kabir's words, during this politically divisive time. We are particularly happy to support Preeti Singar who is one of the few female singers within the largely male-dominated Kabir Mandlis in Madhya Pradesh. We will feature performances by Preeti Singar who is based in Indore and Purushottam Tanwar from Ujjain. This concert was aired on 8th November 2020. info@maraa.in