‘Followers of Rumi are blind’

‘Followers of Rumi are blind’
Popular Sufi singer Kavita Seth who will be performing in the city, busts some common myths about Rumi and Sufism

O re manwa tu toh baawra hai… Sufi singer Kavita Seth’s full-bodied vocals have made the song Iktara from Bollywood flick Wake Up Sid a popular, uplifting number. Seth, who will be performing in the city on Saturday for the Children of Parikrma Humanity Foundation’s fundraiser concert, credits her tryst with Sufism as the game-changer in her life. “In 2002, I sang Sufi songs with Abida Parveen in a concert in New Delhi,” she says. “It was an eye-opener and gave me a purpose in life.” She talks about Sufism, Sufi singers and of course Rumi — the one loved by all Facebook-ers.


* Sufism is not Islam. “Many presume I follow Islam,” Seth says. Sufism does not require you to pray five times a day. “Sufism is about spirituality and worshipping God or cosmic energy – whatever you choose to call it.”

*Sufi shrine is also known as a Dargah. It is open to people from all religions. “When I was three-years-old, my father used to take me to a dargah in Barel. I would come home and sing the songs I heard there,” recalls Seth.

*Sufi songs are not always sung in a high pitch. It can also be sung in low or mid pitch.

*Qawwali songs are also Sufi songs.

*Singing a Sufi song is intense. “The intensity of the songs makes us go into a trance – an out-of-the-body experience. There's a build-up of positive energy and you feel my rooh (spirit) leave your body. When it happened to me, it took almost a minute for me to get back to consciousness."

*You don’t need any special training to be a Sufi singer. But you should know how to sing Hindustani classical music. “That’s a must,” Seth says.

* Followers of Rumi are blind. “By this I mean we follow him with our hearts,” Seth explains. “No questions or doubts exist in us. And when I visited his dargah in Turkey, I felt the calmness permeating into me.”

*"While several great saints like Kabir Das and Meerabai composed poetry and put their names within their creations, Maulana Rumi never did that and always put his guru, Shams Tabrizi’s name. The love between the guru and the disciple is expressed simply and with divinity,” explains Seth.

* Masnavi, a six-volume series of poetry in Persian is a creation of Rumi. He dictated it to his disciples some 800 years back.

* "When I visited Turkey, I visited the place where Rumi would feed anyone and everyone who visited him. Once, a man turned up late in the freezing winter night. The cook had no firewood to cook. Rumi asked him to place his left foot in the stove. The cook did it willingly and cooked food for the visitor with the heat of his burning foot. Even today, in Turkey masseurs bow to the feet before the massage as a sign of respect to Rumi’s cook.

Spirit of Sacrifice, July 11, 6.30 pm Chowdiah Memorial Hall. Donor passes are available on bookmyshow.com

The Voice

Kavita Seth has been singing Sufi songs since 12 years. A post graduate in Hindustani classical music, she has also done playback singing for Bollywood films like Cocktail and Wake Up Sid. Some of her popular music albums include Sufiaana, Kabirana Sufiana, Bulleshah and Khudha Wohi Hai.

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