'Mhaare Ab Ke Bachai Le' by Arun Goyal

What sounds like a festive wedding song turns out to be a song about death. Kabir maps the emotional poignancy of a young girl being taken away from her parents to her marital home by a stranger-husband exactly onto the moment when death comes to take us away from body, family and friends. The word for son-in-law is 'jamai', very close to Jama or Yama (Lord of Death) and this song captures the moment when he comes to take away his soul-bride.

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But this is no long-faced dirge about death. Singer Arun Goyal and Narayanji who gets up to dance, and the gathering of listeners all seem to intuit Kabir’s secret – that to confront death in every passing moment can be paradoxically – life-giving!

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Arun Goyal is a fine singer of Kabir and other bhakti poets and part of a vibrant oral tradition of Kabir in Malwa, Madhya Pradesh. An ardent disciple of Osho, he is currently based in Indore, and can be contacted at +91-70240-81109.

Narayan Singh Delmia is a folk singer and activist and widely respected and loved in Malwa for his lively spirit, penchant for dancing to Kabir and his ability to bring everybody gathered in the satsang into one single energy. He is very active in motivating children and women to sing and form their own mandlis, and brings together folk singers of the region on the 2nd of each month in a Manch (platform) to sing and discuss the meanings of Kabir. To know more about the oral traditions of Kabir in Malwa, and to contribute to this Manch, contact Narayanji at +91-97543-67742

This satsang in Haat Pipaliya village was in our very first trip to Malwa in 2002, and it was in such satsangs that the profound power of Kabir in the community began to reveal itself to us. Gathered here are many old friends – social worker Dinesh Kumar who is no more, translator-scholar Linda Hess, singer-educator Tara Kini, singers Kalapini Komkali and Bhuvan Shivaputra who are daughter and grandson of Pt Kumar Gandharva and live nearby in Dewas town.

Ajab Shahar is a digital archive of mystic poetry and music drawing from the rich Bhakti and Sufi oral traditions in India and beyond... Explore a world of sung and spoken wisdom at https://ajabshahar.com

Song Credits:
Tambura & Vocals: Arun Goyal
Manjiras & Co-Singers: Dilip & Ramakant Goyal
Manjiras: Kamal Singh Chauhan
Harmonium: Punjraj Parmar
Nagaari (Timki): Prahlad Goyal
Dholak: Totaram Badoliya

Translation: Shabnam Virmani

Video Credits:
Camera: Shabnam Virmani
Editing: Sharanya Gautam
Sub-Titling: Mamta Kandari & Shabnam Virmani
Collection: Kabir Project

Date of Recording: December, 2002