Kabir Project

When the mind is caught up in a storm of fear and self-loathing, how does one ground oneself? An anxiety-ridden slacker seeks refuge in Kabir's words, only to find that Kabir is not what he expected at all...

ajabshahar.com/stories/details/67/Fear

We are delighted to present a 40-min podcast by Swagath Sivakumar - a very special coming together of theatre, music, poetry, psychology and mysticism.

FEAR & THE GAMES OF THE MIND: A Musical Heart-to-Heart with Kabir
See the complete story here: ajabshahar.com/stories/details/67/Fear

Swagath is a student and apprentice at the Kabir Project. He is drawn to the Indian mystics by the remarkable resonances between their poetry and the teachings of the Buddha. As he grapples with his own difficulties, he enjoys sharing poetry and folk-philosophy which he has found personally insightful.

This is the first of a series of audio works on Kabir that have emerged out of Swagath's student project at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology.

Discussion on our two books hosted by Write Circle, Jaipur, as a Zoom meeting, earlier this month. Also, a couple of songs!

The books under discussion:

"I Saw Myself: Journeys with Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai" (Penguin)

"One Palace, a Thousand Doorways: Songlines through Bhakti, Sufi & Baul Oral Traditions" (Speaking Tree)

The Virtual Write Circle with Shabnam Virmani & Vipul Rikhi (Jaipur)

A review by Rita Kothari of "I Saw Myself: Journeys with Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai", published by Penguin India

"The book is more a journey than a final and comprehensive compendium to the Sindhi Risalo by Shah Abdul Latif. It has verses from the previous compilations, in addition to ones that Virmani and Rikhi hear as a part of the oral tradition in Kutch. In that sense this is an unusual, almost quirky book in that it mimics, despite being textual, the spontaneity of an oral tradition."

These glimpses of poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s work shows his greatness cannot be grasped fully ‘I Saw Myself’ features new translations of the Sindhi Sufi poet’s works by Shabnam Virmani and Vipul Rikhi.