Interview
with Paban Das Baul
Paban
Das Baul
by Tishma
Paban Das Baul, world-renowned Bengali Baul musician, is
revered for being the pioneer of blazing a trail for Baul
music on the international music scene and for establishing
a unique and innovative genre of folk-fusion music. The
legendary minstrel entertained legions of enraptured fans
at two consecutive concerts held in Dhaka recently. During
his stay in Dhaka, Paban and his wife Urmimala Sen Mimlu
(USM) took some time out to share a few thoughts in an
exclusive rendezvous with the Star Weekend Magazine.
SWM: Could you tell us more about your early life and the
origins of your musical inspiration? How did you develop
your passion for music?
PDB: I was born in 1961 in the village Mohammedpur, in
Murshidabad, West Bengal, India. My parents were from a
very simple background. While my mother and sister liked to
sing, it was my father who especially loved and was
involved in music, though he wasn't a famous artist or
anything of that kind. He used to be a skilled wrestler,
but after losing his property, he would travel through
Murshidabad, singing Baul songs and wrestling to make both
ends meet. I would keep him company on his travels and sing
with him, from the time I was just five or six years old.
We would render songs at various places… villages
and fairs, stages and festivals. And that was my
'schooling'. This was the way I learned to sing… I
never had any training. I had a natural passion for music
and learnt everything I know about it by watching and
listening to other musicians. In the course of time, we
came across the Bauls and performed at their fairs.
Eventually, I was initiated by Suban Das Baul when I was
fourteen years old.
SWM: And that was when you became Paban 'Das Baul'. Could
you recount any momentous anecdotes from your early life?
PDB: There is one incident I remember particularly well.
One day, I heard a 'Sufi fakir' playing an instrument
called a 'dubki' (a tambourine-like instrument) in our
village. I was so captivated that I asked my father to buy
me a dubki just like the one the Sufi was playing. I was
six years old then. My father bought me the dubki with
three annas; now it is worth about 120 to 150 takas, so you
see, this was many years ago. No-one taught me how to play
the dubki. I learnt to play it by myself by watching others
play it. Likewise, no-one taught me how to play the khamak
and dotara either, I learnt through observation. The people
from whom I learnt so much by observing their playing are
the very people I regard as my gurus.
SWM: You have been featured in a French documentary, on
Bauls, called 'Le Chants Des Fou'…
PDB: Yes, the French Government made a feature film on me
in 1979. It which was telecast on French TV. In Bangla, the
title of that film 'Le Chant Des Fou' translates into
'Pagolder Gaan' (Songs of the Mad People).
USM: It was a very beautiful film, about the Bauls. It
followed a young boy called Kartik…
SWM: …who, incidentally, is now a well-known Baul
singer…
USM: …Yes, and at that time he was only about seven
years old. In the film, he was following Paban and other
Bauls around, and the story basically centered on how
Kartik was getting apprenticed with these older Bauls and
how he was gradually assimilating the Baul lifestyle. The
film showed that the whole Baul tradition is actually
handed down amongst generations orally. For instance, when
Paban learnt about Baul music, his 'educators' was simply
the other older Baul singers. Similarly, Kartik, being very
young, learnt from Paban and other older Bauls, in the
film.
PDB: The film was shot in 1977, and released in 1979.
Several of us Bauls were in this film, which was basically
a documentary on Bauls. 'Le Chant Des Fou' was aired in
various European countries. I personally think it was one
of the most beautiful documentaries ever made, because it
portrayed the Baul way of life so accurately.
SWM: 'Le Chant Des Fou' indeed took a lovely approach to
enlightening the Western world on one of the most arcane
and mystical, and yet profoundly fascinating, facets of
South-East Asian culture. When and why did you actually
decide to move to Paris?
PDB: I moved to France in 1980, shortly after the release
of my film…
USM: The film is what actually started Paban going off to
the West…
PDB: After the film was released, some Bauls were taken to
France. In 1980, Radio France invited me to perform at a
concert held at their own Hall. 1000 people attended that
concert. I have been travelling back and forth between
France and India since 1980, and started residing in Paris
about fourteen years ago. However, I do return to Calcutta
once or twice a year.
SWM: Regarding your various musical ventures… Funk
guitarist Sam Mills lent his talents to 1997's 'Real
Sugar', your most celebrated album to date, which included
the sensational 'Dil Ki Doya'. Your 1998 follow-up release
'Inner Knowledge' incorporated fewer fusion-infused
elements, rather striving to achieve a more traditional,
purer 'Baul' sound. And then we have your latest effort,
April 2004's 'Tanatani', which combines State of Bengal's
Anglo-Asian breakbeats with your own folk-inspired
melodies… That's a lot of creativity! What's next on
the agenda?
PDB: Though my songs are mainly folk and traditional songs,
I take pleasure in all kinds of music and delight in
combining my work with those of other artists to create new
sounds. My wife Mimlu is writing the story for a feature
film called 'Black Maria', which she will also be
directing. On the film soundtrack we will be collaborating
with an African musician called Sheik Tedian Sheik. Mimlu
and I will be writing songs for that film. My sister has
never sung professionally before, so we would like her to
sing on this movie, as this is our very own project.
SWM: We hear you are a very accomplished painter indeed!
Please do elaborate on your art… What are your
specific preferences with regard to subjects and media in
your work?
PBD: I usually work with pastels and oil paints,
occasionally pencils, and have experimented with acrylic
paints as well. I paint on paper, not canvas. Some of my
paintings will be displayed in an exhibition soon in
Kolkata.
SWM: We all know you as Paban Das Baul, Baul-fusion music
maestro. But now let us hear something about Paban Das Baul
the person… Let us in on some aspect about yourself
that people don't already know about…
PDB: When I get the time, I love to cook!
SWM: What kinds of cuisine are your specialties?
PDB: I can cook all kinds of food! French, Italian, Indian,
Chinese, Vietnamese… you name it!
SWM: We presume all your fans who are now reading this will
be longing to go over to your home to feast on your
cooking!
USM: Welcome, welcome! Anytime!
PDB: You know, Mimlu and I occasionally have to cook for a
thousand people. We occasionally cook for all the guests at
one of the largest theatres in Paris. About eighty people
work there, and they help us out during those times when we
have to cook for so many visitors. On one of those nights,
perhaps twenty-five people will be cutting onions,
potatoes, garlic, meat and so on. We essentially give the
directions, add spices and are in charge of the whole
cooking session. Someone else will be stirring the food in
enormous vessels. We might have to cook eight to ten
different dishes this way in one night!
In 2000, there was this all-night concert of Indian
classical music. It was 24 hours long. There was one raag
assigned to each hour; 24 'raags' for 24 hours. The
responsibility of cooking for the whole event was given to
Mimlu and me. We cooked for 1200 people, but the meals were
served to 1500 people!
SWM: Would you like to say something to your fans in
Bangladesh?
PDB: I would like to send all of them my love. And I shall
be elated if they will go on loving music more and more.
- The Daily
Star