INTRODUCTION
The word "Baul" has its origin in the Sanskrit words "Vatula", or "Vyakula" (restless) and used for someone who is "possessed" or "crazy". Baul songs is not only an unique musical culture in Bengal, it is also an influential classic form of communication. From the dawn of medieval civilization, Baul songs are used to spread awareness, to send message, to entertain & to inform the public. This wandering folk culture has a special place in the history of world music. In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.
Baul singers live like a community, and their main occupation is the propagation of Baul music. They are the most non-communal of all communities: They have no religion, for they only believe in the religion of music, brotherhood and peace. Predominantly a Hindu movement, the Baul philosophy weaves together different Islamic and Buddhist strains as well. Music is their only source of sustenance: They live on whatever they are offered by villagers in return, and travel from place to place, as it were, on a vehicle of ecstasy.
Baul songs are used as an importent tool in the rural areas to communicate with the masses. Baul is one of the few widely known and appreciated types of folk music in Bengal. Baul is not only a kind of music, it is basically a Bengali religious sect. The members of the sect are themselves called Bauls, and the songs they sing are named for them, Baul-Gan (Baul songs).
ORIGIN & MOTIVATION
The origin of Bauls is not known exactly, but the word has appeared in Bengali texts as old as the 15th century. The word is found in the Chaitanya Bhagavata of Vrindavana Dasa Thakura as well as in the Chaitanya Charitamrita of Krishnadasa Kaviraja. Some scholars maintain that it is not clear when the word took its sectarian significance, as opposed to being a synonym for the word madcap, agitated. The beginning of the Baul movement was attributed to Birbhadra, the son of the Vaishnavite saint Nityananda, or alternatively to the 8th century Persian minstrels called Ba'al. Bauls are a part of the culture of rural Bengal. Whatever their origin, Baul thought has mixed elements of Tantra, Sufi Islam, Vaishnavism and Buddhism. They are thought to have been influenced by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas, as well as Tantric Buddhist schools like the Vaishnava-Sahajiya Some scholars find traces of these thoughts in the ancient practices of Yoga as well as the Charyapadas, which are Buddhist hymns that are the first known example of written Bengali. The Bauls themselves attribute their lack of historical records to their reluctance to leave traces behind. Dr. Jeanne Openshaw writes that the music of the Bauls appears to have been passed down entirely in oral form until the end of the 19th century, when it was first transcribed by outside observers. Though the main problem to find the history of origin of the Bauls is because they never bother to write down their origin or songs. Theirs is essentially an oral tradition, and it is said of Lalan Fakir (1774 -1890), the greatest of all Bauls, that he continued to compose and sing songs for decades without ever stopping to correct them or put them on paper. It was only after his death that people thought of collecting and compiling his rich repertoire. Normally Baul refers to various groups of people in Bengal (the Indian state of West Bengal and its neighbor, Bangladesh, for whom the body is the sole organ of all experience and means to knowledge. Many of them practice a type of psycho-physical manipulation or tantric yoga which emphasizes control of sexual union, the purpose of which is to enable the couple to achieve a break with phenomenal existence, to escape the endless cycle of death and regeneration, and to achieve a state of eternal stability or samadhi. This practice involves the retention of semen during intercourse and ingestion of bodily secretions. Those who follow these practices view them as a tool for perfecting the body, the only available aid mankind has to achieve understanding and liberation. In this belief, those who may be called Bauls are joined by numerous other traditions of practical mysticism in India, and Bauls are therefore a regional, linguistically circumscribed, branch of an ancient and widespread approach to personal eschatology. The earliest examples of the Bengali language, in fact, are found in a 10th-century manuscript of song texts, the caryapada, whose esoteric references to Buddhist and Saivite tantra presage similar texts of contemporary Baul songs.
BAUL SONG- STRUCTURE & TRADITION
Baul songs are normally sung solo, allowing considerable improvisational freedom and embellishment in their rendition. Accompaniment may be by the singer, him or herself, on the single-stringed drone, 'ektara', with or without a small kettle drum, 'duggi'; these are the instruments which have come to be indexical of the Bauls and may even metonymically stand in for them in graphic representations.
The basic structure of most Baul melodies, like that of many song types in India, rests on a sthayi/antara or refrain/verse foundation. According to the style of song and skill of the performer, the performance may vary from person to person. The tunes often bear a resemblance to some well-known ragas—there is, after all, a recognized historical connection between regional musical tunes and the melody types that came to be known as ragas—but they do not adhere to their theoretical prescriptions and most Baul singers would not know these in any case. In western terms, the scales of Baul songs are diatonic though the particular position of scale degrees may not coincide with their tempered equivalents. The modes used may resemble major, phrygian, mixolydian, etc., but the manner in which the scale degrees are used gives them a more particular quality than that we usually ascribe to scalar modes.
A singer commonly begins a song with a brief unmetered introduction which calls upon the melodic material of the succeeding tune before he or she begins the song proper. Akin to the classical alap, this introduction is followed by a measured rendition of the song in one of several commonly used meters which may be simple or compound duple; in the latter case, there is frequent confusion between, or simultaneity of, 6/8 and 3/4 that resembles but is more pervasive than the usual western hemiola—more like the compound duple of some Iberian song. As a soloistic medium with some correlates to classical music, Baul song is a sophisticated melodic tradition which demands dedication of its performers, and these may attain a highly accomplished technique.
Baul Themes & instruments.
The theme that Bauls deal with in their lyrics is mostly philosophical in the form of allegories on the state of disconnect between the earthly soul and the spiritual world. Often they philosophize on love and the many-splendoured bonds of the heart, subtly revealing the mystery of life, the laws of nature, the decree of destiny and the ultimate union with the divine. Bauls use a variety of indigenous musical instruments to embellish their compositions. The "ektara", a one-stringed drone instrument, is the common instrument of a Baul singer. It is the carved from the epicarp of a gourd, and made of bamboo & strings. Other commonly used musical paraphernalia include "dotara", a multi-stringed instrument made of the wood of a jackfruit or neem tree; "dugi", a small hand-held earthen drum; leather instruments like "dhol", "khol" and "goba"; chime tools like "ghungur", "nupur"; small cymbals called "kartal" and "mandira", and the bamboo flute.
Some exponents of Baul music
Lalon Fakir(1774-1890) is the most famous Baul of all ages. Purno Chandra Das is the most widely known Baul today. Other exponents of this area are Yotin Das Baul, Sonatan Das Thakur Baul, Patvathy baul, Paban Das Baul, Haradhon Das Baul & many others.
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IMPACT OF BAUL MUSIC AS A FOLK MEDIA
The foresters of the woods, hill-men of the mountain ranges, fishermen of the seaside, the dwellers in the river basins all these follow their own traditions. They are humble and contented. Their family ties were fostered by age-old customs and they had supreme faith in an all - powerful providence. Often, this faith of theirs in a Superior being manifested itself in their love for a tree, a stone, an animal, a river, a hill, a forest, or even an idea. Until they developed agriculture, the main occupation of the people was hunting and food gathering. Later they came to occupy with tilling the land, after converting it into small plots for ploughing and working hard to reap a seasonal harvest. Agriculture demanded their full attention and they were kept fully occupied while sowing and reaping. In between, there was leisure and rest from the basic demand of the tiller's life-hard manual labour. This was the time for recreation for song and dance to lighten their lives. When they had satisfactory harvest, their feeling of joy and exhilaration found expression in songs. There are the Baul songs that colour and reflect the lives of the peasants in all their variety and fullness. Baul songs are rich miniatures representing the lives, the joys and sorrows of the village folk. These songs convey to us the aesthetic sense of people. The unique feature about them is that they belong to the community. The authorship of the songs is not of our concern because they are preserved by oral tradition.
Apart from entertainment, Baul songs are sung to spread awareness, to inform about any particular subject or issues, spread any ideas & to learn about good habits. Both state & central Government use the Baul songs to spread awareness about any issue in the rural areas respectively.
The spirit of singing is the source of this particular folk media is its very soul. The intensity of emotion, which the oral repetition imparts to the folk song, is its heartbeat. The peculiarity of the Baul lies in the fact that every member of community are affected a more or less by its catchy lyrics & tone. Though everyone may not exactly sing the song, the song is known to and enjoyed by all to the heart's content. Their active participation is in contrast to the passive hearing of an audience assembled in musical and literary gathering in a city nowadays. A Baul singer may sing alone or in a group with or without the accompaniment of musical instruments. It is believed that the folk feeling and melody are inseparably intermingled in a folk song. Actually, the text of the song and its melody do not form an integral unit and the bond may be broken. The same song may be sung in different tunes in different parts of the country or even in the same locality. This is corroborated by the fact that the singer forgets the basic melody and sets the song to his own melody. The tunes may change from age to age or from one person to another. There is no fixed notation of music or a set tune though it becomes difficult to find out the basic melodies. A few melodies in comparison with a large number of texts testify to this fact. We find different versions of the text and melody prevalent in a country. One tune of the text expresses joy and another tune of the same text sounds sad and depressing. The tie of the musical features with the emotional aspect of the song seems strong. But it is not always inseparable. Being ancient forms of art, the folk media is very close to the heart of the people. Its appeal is universal and its understanding is direct and at personal level. So the folk media like Baul music can effectively be used as mass communication among ruralities and urbanities. Baul has played a very important role in solving several emotional problems and channelizing the destructive forces into constructive ones. In a developing country like India folk music, folk dances and folk dramas have always played an important role in combating destructive elements and in harmonizing emotional outbursts relating to caste, creed, religion and language issues. Several folk forms of entertainment prevalent in different parts of India were powerful media of public instruction and unifying force for emotional integrity. Various organizations, movements and government bodies can effectively make use Baul songs for developmental activities.
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The communication needs in India are much greater than the resources we have today to meet them. While the mass media have been constantly expanding, the folk media have been playing an important role in this field due to our peculiar needs. Apart from these live programs in face-to-face communication, Baul has also been used in programs over electronic media. India's roles in identifying folk media for communication purposes have been quite positive. This experience can certainly be of some use to both the developing and underdeveloped countries if proper assessment of these efforts becomes available through scientific surveys. While folkway of communication dominates in remote and rural areas, Baul singers are present in various forms & looks in urban centers as well. One of the main problems and objectives is to consolidate the relationship between the two forms of communication without disrupting either the traditional roots or the necessary trend towards modernity. Outside its usual context, folk media of communication like Baul has also been largely used during recent events occurring in the political and social life in the rural India.
Almost all of the developing countries show a mixture of traditional and modern communication. There is a constant interplay and reciprocal influence between them. It seems very important to maintain their co-existence and mutual relationship. As regard to folk arts, it is very clear that the revival of such forms of arts can very well be utilized for reconstruction of new ideas and building up of our nation in a better way. Folk media like Baul songs are most effective in changing the unscientific attitudes, superstitions, etc. inherited as a part of tradition by the people in rural areas. In the course of folk performance, they transmit information and project ideas that may influence attitudes and behaviour as well as entertainment. Thus it is a great revelation nowadays that the folk arts are quite sufficient, as a medium to inform and disseminate people to safeguard against superstition and other such beliefs.
PRESENT STATUS
Born in our backyard, for centuries they have been taken for granted and neglected. But Bengal's minstrels have come a long way since Rabindranath Tagore's controversial tryst with Lalan Fakir, to the time Purnadas Baul bowled over the 'Baul of the West' , Bob Dylan and Kanai Baul found his way into The Song of the Blind Minstrel in William Dalrymple's Nine Lives. The time os changing and so is the baul mindset. The passport is now as vital as the khamak, and the ektara is hobnobbing with the electric bass like never before, going places where no patchwork robe has gone before.
Collaboration with international artistes is the major bread-winner for the minstrels. Kartik Das Baul, performing with Taal Tantra, "floored" German guitarist Matthias Muller, says fusion maestro Tanmoy Bose. Kartik started his international career in the US in 1985, and hasn't looked back since. From mesmerising the Dalai Lama in Bangalore to entertaining the Japanese and the Taiwanese, he's been there, done that. For Bengal's wonders, international boundaries are mere formalities. Not just 'Baul Samrat' Purnadas, who has toured over 100 countries, or the legendary Paban Das Baul, the younger generation, too, is breaking the sound barrier. At a regular akhra at Kenduli in West Bengal's Birbhum district, Tarak Das Baul regaling his motley group with his experiences in Poland, Russia and Bangladesh last year. In 2007, his concerts rocked Japan and Korea. The most soft-spoken of the lot, dotara player Lakshman Das, will soon accompany the celebrated Parvathy Baul to Morocco.
Through centuries, the bauls have stayed true to their roots - their history has several instances of the cult being targeted by communal forces and religious intolerance - but it’s sheer apathy at home that has forced them to look for greener pastures. Even these days several Bauls are using social sites like Facebook, You-tube & Myspace to keep in touch with their followers & spreading the vibe! Like Purnadas Baul, Parvaathi Baul many have their own website & online radio station too.
Conclusion
Studies have proved that the hold of the Baul music on the rural and semi-urban masses is still strong. Realizing the potentialities of this pirticaular type of folk media, some State Directorate of Public Relations and non-official organizations make imaginative use of this folk art, live entertainment movements has made several experiments by employing many of these forms for dissemination of ideas and innovations. Therefore, this initiative should be kept up.
Each folk art itself is a medium of communication because it is directly linked with the psyche of its audience. It is flexible and it can be modified in regard to its functional relevance to the society to which it belongs. That is perhaps why it survived. Baul songs are closer to the lives of rural audience. The lyrics of Baul songs by Lalan Fakir, Sahajiya Maa are born from the social inequality.
With the advance technology and other faster forms of communicating media, the folk/traditional media have started decaying. At present, the rural audience of India is receiving neither of them in adequate and effective proportion. With the slow disappearance of the folk performing arts and the lack of new mass media in the villages, a kind of communication gap has developed. The traditional media have become more or less ineffective, no other medium is available for communication and even if it is available, the people do not know how to use it. Therefore, it is essential to establish modern communication media with an effective network covering rural areas and also to make use of performing arts like Baul for communicating the message and disseminating information and knowledge.
The countries like Bangladesh, China and Indonesia have been used their folk arts forms to communicate development messages for several centuries.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Telegraph Achieve
The Times of India Achieve
http://www.myspace.com/pabandasbaul/blog/
http://parvathybaul.srijan.asia/
“Lalan Fakir” from Gangchil publication
Wikipedia
Baul.org
http://www.baularchive.com/#
treakearth.com/baul/images
Google image
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