He was born in 1398 and supposedly lived for 120 years. The legacy of the Bhakti movement, that the illegitimate child left behind along with his poems, and the deep message in each couplet relating to life’s experiences, has made the mystic poet Kabeer Das a legend.
Shekar Sen, the multi-talented singer, actor, writer and director brought Kabeer to life in a meticulously executed one man act, on April 28th at the Ashok Center in Atlanta.
In spite of simple props, Sen recreated a rich stage as he skillfully recreated anecdotes from Kabeer’s life intertwining them beautifully with his most famous and often quoted couplets.
The story begins with the soulful narration by the spirit of Kabeer of the events that began with his life. The illegitimate son of a Brahmin widow who gave him up, Kabeer was found by a Muslim weaver and his wife who raised him. Sen depicted the child Kabeer’s confusion and sorrow at being shunned in the mosque because he was illegitimate, his questioning his own identity, the love and scolding of a doting mother as he indulged in childish pranks, with great finesse. The musical was enhanced by a rich, witty script and melodious singing of Kabeer’s couplets by Shekhar Sen.
Sen also switched voices as he enacted conversations between Kabeer and several other characters introduced in to the play, from his mother, his wife, his children Kamal and Kamali, to many of his followers. His expressions too encompassed a wide gamut of emotions as characters conversed with each other.
Underlying all this was the powerful message Kabeer sent through his couplets-message of all paths leading to the same divine source, that God is within us and not to be found in mosques and temples; we make God inferior and small in stature when we put a limiting umbrella of a temple and mosque above his head, that when you look for evil, you become evil yourself, that there is nothing more powerful than a mother’s love, and so much more.
Kabeer questioned all religions openly and mocks at several religious practices to task.
At one point he says, look at the yogi-he sits in a temple and strikes a pose, ignores the universal presence of the Supreme and worships a stone. One, who does not embrace humanity as a whole, cannot embrace divinity, and when you depart this earth the only thing you leave behind are your good deeds… Kabeer also says that if you want to reach God remain childlike.
There is also a poignant story that was presented with humor and pathos by Sen. Kabeer is a poor cloth weaver and marries at his mother’s constant behest. As he goes to another village to marry, jealous neighbors burn his house down. Kabeer returns and laughingly says to his new bride Loi, that the poor celebrate their joy by burning down their huts because they don’t have money for firecrackers.
Kabeer was the bridge uniting many religious sects-both in life and death, and that is why legend goes that when he died and the Hindus and Muslims were fighting over whether to burn or bury his body-all they found upon raising the sheet were some flowers! Today his message remains as much a universal truth as it was then, especially in a world that is so polluted with religious and communal strife across nations.
Sen sang all his songs live and it is indeed very challenging not only for the artist to switch for 2 long hours with only a short break, between long dialogues, two voices and singing Kabeer’s couplets, it was also a challenge to start the music at the right time.
The audience of a little over 200 people included music and tabla maestros Rakesh Chaurasia and Vijay Ghate along with keyboard player and Shekhar Sen’s nephew Abhijeet Pohankar.
The audience was spell bound and gave Shekhar Sen a standing ovation.
Earlier the play and the audience were blessed by Siddhar Selvam who is building the famed Shiva temple here with 108 idols of Shiva. The Swami blessed the audience by chanting mantras and praying for prosperity and happiness for every one present.
Kudos to Bharat Cultural Organization’s Paddy Sharma and Mustafa Ajmeri, for bringing such a stellar show to Atlanta. Those who didn’t see it missed an outstanding, one of a kind performance.