Ektara - I Have a String Within
I
h h h
a a a
v v v
e e e
a a a
s s s
t t t
r r r
i i i
n n n
g g g
w w w
i i i
t t t
h h h
i i i
n n n
This gets played by itself on any muse loose
My ignorant self creates the hollow to reverberate
My entire quest for truth roams within this emptiness
So I surrender my soul on his divine feet like torn petals
Let this great Baul guide me towards the enlightenment
He can do wonders with his simple words to explain
The profound knowledge of life and wind of freedom
Freedom from materials and attachments of life
Freedom from feeling of self and illusions
Freedom from obsessive thoughts and
Vague divisions created by us
Ektara - be my muse loose
03.09.2016
Here, I have tried to give my poetry a shape of an Ektara.
Ektara (literally "one-string", also called iktar, ektar, yaktaro) is a one-string instrument most often used in traditional music from Bangladesh, India, Egypt, and Pakistan.
In origin the ektara was a regular string instrument of wandering bards and minstrels from India and is plucked with one finger. The ektara is a drone lute consisting of a gourd resonator covered with skin, through which a bamboo neck is inserted.
The Baul are a group of mystic minstrels from Bengal which includes Indian State of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh. Bauls constitute both a syncretic religious sect and a musical tradition. Bauls are a very heterogeneous group, with many sects, but their membership mainly consists of Vaishnava Hindus and Sufi Muslims. They can often be identified by their distinctive clothes and musical instruments. Not much is known of their origin. Lalon Fokir is regarded as the most important poet-practitioner of the Baul tradition. Baul music had a great influence on Rabindranath Tagore's poetry and on his music (Rabindra Sangeet).
Though Bauls comprise only a small fraction of the Bengali population, their influence on the culture of Bengal is considerable. In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.
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