Quintessential Sufi

Manpriya Singh

Sufi singers crop each day by the dozen, Sufi nights are yours to experience every week and Sufi music is anything soulful right? As far away as the spirit of Sufi is from anything commercial, it remains a tad exploited and marketable term. “Sufi basically is traditional songs penned by Sufi poets like Bulleh Shah, Baba Farid, Amir Khusro, they can be a qawwali or in any other form,” poet, writer and singer Vipul Rikhi explains the basics, on the sidelines of a recent performance at CCET where the Friday Organic Farmers’ Market is held every week.

Online archive of music

Currently building an online archive of folk music called Ajab Shahar, he is all set to include over 400 songs around Bhakti, Sufi and Baul music. The Bangalore based poet and singer was introduced to the musical version of Kabir through artiste Prahlad Tipania from Madhya Pradesh.

Apocalypse averted

His only work on fiction so far, came out inspired by the widespread belief that world will come to an end back in 2012. “In 2012 Nights, the writer in the story imagines all sorts of wild tales because of his drunken state and paranoia and begins to tell them.” he adds, “There is one narrative but within that there are all sorts of stories, fables of compassion and greed, destruction and creation, loss and search. There are even mythological stories.”

Memoirs of Sindhi Sufi...

Rikhi is currently occupied with penning memoirs of a Sindhi Sufi- Shah Latif, to be specific. “He is one of the greatest Sufi scholars and mystic poets we have had. It is not widely known that he has spoken about the love legends from Punjab Sassi Punnu and Sohni Mahiwal in his works.” The great poet’s references to the worldly love and spiritual love is what form the context of Vipul’s works. “I am also working on a book on translation which connects Sufi, Bhakti and Baul phases across the subcontinent.”

Sufi fans should look out for this one!

manpriya@tribunemail.com