Sufi lovers will witness the performance of famous folk singer Moorlala Marwada
RIMMI SHARMA
NEW DELHI: Mooralala lives and practices music in his village Janaan, close to the World Heritage Site Dholavira on the Khadir Island of Kutch. He hails from a lineage of Meghwal singers who migrated to this region from Rajasthan three to four centuries ago. Not only does he have a rich repertoire of Nirguni bhajans, Sufi kalams and other traditional folk songs, Mooralala also plays the traditional stringed instrument ‘santar’.
Accompanying Mooralala ji will be Kanji Rana who will play the ‘algoja’ (woodwind). Naran Haja who will play the ‘ghado ghamelo’ (percussion) and Sukhdev Lakha on the ‘zanj’ (percussion). The event, to be held on the evening of August 2 at the India International Centre (IIC) at Lodhi Road in the capital, will be in a lecture-demonstration format. Along with the songs performed by Moorlala ji and his troupe, Kartikeya Kheterpal of Nai Dhara will present a commentary, highlighting their literary and cultural significance, particularly in relation to the evolution of Hindi. He and his troupe have been invited to perform and showcase his unique music across the world.
Through the bhajans of Kabir, Mirabai and Ravidas, we will look at the role of the Bhakti movement in the evolution of Hindi and also explore Hindi’s relationship with languages such as Gujarati and Sindhi. About the diversity of languages reflected in their songs, Moorlala ji says, “Every region has a different language. Our saint-poets, with their wisdom, have composed their poems in a mixed language that everyone can understand.”About the series – Kabir compared language or bhakha to a flowing river that adapts and changes with its flow.
Nai Dhara Bhakha is a celebration of this ever-flowing, ever-evolving language landscape. This series is a cultural, artistic and literary exploration of how Hindi has evolved and is evolving through continuous exchange with other languages.
“Nai Dhara” is a bi-monthly Hindi literary magazine published from Patna, with a history of seventy years. It was started in 1950 by Uday Raj Sinha. He drew inspiration from his father Raja Radhikaraman Prasad Sinha, who was an important figure in the development of modern Hindi prose. The tradition of bringing high quality Hindi literature continues to this day and has published more than 10,000 literary works by more than 3,000 authors so far. These include legends of ‘Hindi literature’ like Mahadevi Verma, Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’, Rahul Sankrityayan, Ramvriksh Benipuri and Phanishwar Nath ‘Renu’.
