Mellifluous music connects souls

Parvathy Baul

The maiden Dhaka International Folk Festival (DIFF) ended on a high note with an array of soulful performances on Saturday. The concluding day of the three-day grand festival was set off with a riveting performance by Bangladeshi band Joler Gaan. Rahul Anand and his band-mates swayed music lovers with “Bokul Phul”, “Ei Pagol, “Patar Gaan”, and a new song “Chandani”. 

The audience had its first encounter with Irish folk melodies at the festival, thanks to the fascinating performance by Niamh Ni Charra and her troupe. Presenting the mellow, energetic yet nuanced vibes of Irish music with a fiddle, bodhran frame drum and a concertina accordion along with an acoustic guitar and tap-dancing, they even got the audience to sing along in Irish.

Abida Parveen

Indian Ocean was marvelous in their unique act on stage. Starting off with offering a folk tune, the music troupe dedicated “Arey Ruk Jarey Bandey”, a song about divides and violence in the name of religion, to the victims of the Paris attack. Blending folk and rock sounds with a classical base, they got the spectators involved in a sawal-jawab style hand-clap and khamak dual.  

Indian Ocean

Parvathy Baul immersed in the simple yet ecstatic philosophy of baul-vaishnavism and offered music with sloka in her performance. The artiste incorporated the nuance of Natabar-Nataraj, Radha-Krishna, Lalita-Bishakha and more in her presentation of songs. The intrusion of Tagorean adaptation of sloka “Tamochhi Momo Jibonang”, in the bard's timeless Poetic Novel “Shesher Kabita”, was entertaining. 

Niamh Ni Charra

The highlight of event was the hypnotising performance by Sufi icon Abida Parveen, connecting tens of thousands of souls. Opening with “Man Kunto Maula” a Manqawat Quawwali by Amir Khusro in praise of Hazrat Ali(RA), she went on to sing a Hazrat Shah Niaz kalaam “Yaar Ko Hum Ne Jabaja Dekha”, and a Bulleh Shah poem “Tere Ishq Nachaya”. Her signature vocal projection, balanced yet mellifluous ups and downs of notation and a fabulous game of meend, gamak and pukar took the audience into a trance, before she got the audience on their feet with “Damadam Mast Kalandar”. 

Manganiyars

The festival came to an end with the performance of Rajasthani folk music. The Manganiyars performed a familiar folk number “Kesariya Aao Mhare Des” and in their subsequent numbers, showcased the upbeat, booming folk vibes of the deserts of Rajasthan, using traditional instruments like the khartal, kamancha, sarangi and morsing and featuring the famous Kalbelia dance by two dancers. In closing, they performed a medley of “Nimbooda” (a folk song made famous by Bollywood), “Chhap Tilak” (an Amir Khusro kalaam) and surprisingly, “Sadher Lau”. 

Joler Gaan

Despite the inexperience showing on the organisers' part, the festival marked the beginning of a noble initiative, as much for the audiences to experience music of the roots of our country and around the world as it is for the folk musicians of the country. They now have a platform to reach out to big audiences – if the festival returns, as Sun Events and Maasranga TV MD Anjan Chowdhury promised to.

PHOTO: RIDWAN ADID RUPON / SHEIKH MEHEDI MORSHED