Finding god in Kabir's city

THE POET AND HIS CITYAs the sun sets, the Dashashwamedh Ghat gears up for the evening aarti-a sight that brings hundreds of tourists and pilgrims to Banaras. The Ganga aarti is an ode to the river Ganga, that lights up each night with flickering diyas on the ghats. Against the gentle calmness of the river is a strong juxtaposition of a city that is forever bustling with pilgrims searching for the gods that are said to have occupied its banks many moons ago.

Benaras or Varanasi was made from the grand union of rivers Varuna and Assi and is considered to be one of the oldest living cities in the world, as well as the centre of Hinduism. But there is a Benaras that exists apart from the temples, the heavy commercialisation in the name of religion, the famed handloom textiles or even the delectable Benarasi paan-the Benaras we talk about belongs to the mystic Kabir Das, who transformed the city into the focal point of Indian spiritualism.

MAINSTREAMING KABIRFor many of us, Kabir merely resides in our school textbooks, where his dohas made an integral part of our Hindi syllabus. But there are a few, like filmmaker Shabnam Virmani, who has pulled out Kabir from social amnesia and made the saint's socio-cultural relevance stand out to the world through the Kabir Project, an artist-in-residency project at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore.

"This journey with Kabir started in 2002 when I was living in Ahmedabad, in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots which was a time to introspect and understand the prejudices around caste and religion," says Virmani. The project that started in 2003 has manifested through 4 films, 6 books and multiple events, all with the aim to bring Kabir to the mainstream. And what could be better than celebrating the poet through a full-fledged festival dedicated to the life and teachings of Kabir and his beloved city, Benaras?

SOULFUL REVERIEThough on the outset the Mahindra Kabira festival sounded much like a music fest with luminaries of Indian Classical music such as Prahlad Tipanya, Pt. Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Mir Mukhtiyar Ali and others taking the stage to honour the 15th-century philosopher, but what it brought to our plate was a unique soul curry-literature sessions, heritage walks and early morning meditation sessions, perhaps to awaken an inner consciousness.

Seven years ago, corporate giant Mahindra had sponsored an event hosted by the Kabir Project and fell in love with the idea of Kabir. "Kabir's ideology of being agnostic to any religion is at the core of the company's philosophy," says Jay Shah, head, Cultural Outreach, Mahindra & Mahindra, revealing "not many know that the company used to be Mahindra & Mohammed before partition. Ghulam Mohammed shifted to Pakistan and went on to become the country's Finance Minister, but remained a close friend of the Mahindras until the end."

ENCOUNTERS WITH THE SAINTOn the Darbhanga ghat, where the morning sessions of the threeday festival took place, apart from the festival participants, the locals looked quite confused. Anil Narayan Sharma, a resident of Varanasi and a music photographer was drawn to the festival by the names of the participating musicians. "I don't know anything about Kabir except that he believed in brotherhood, in that way I am not separate from his beliefs," says Sharma.

For Mario Corello, a yoga instructor from Mexico, the festival wasn't his first introduction to Kabir Das. "An American friend encountered Pavathy Baul in Italy who told her about Das. My friend's research led her to watch Shabnam Virmani's films on Kabir and in turn educating me about the mystic and his ideas of universal truth," he said.

WHY KABIR?Writer and Carnatic music exponent, Vidya Shah-who performed at the famous Assi ghat put things into perspective when asked about the relevance of Kabir today. "In a polarised world, Kabir's idea of Hindu-Muslim unity seems almost prophetic. He is a symbol of communal harmony," says Shah. Vipul Rikhi, poet and singer reveals, "Kabir became popular through his satsangs which had a radical questioning spirit yet a place where one found solace. Through his satsangs, Kabir was disrupting power structures around religion." A power we wish more people had in today's world.