With full moon appearing in the night sky, during this tribute to Sant Kabir Das on the open terrace of Stephens Hall, UC Berkeley campus,the audiences were taken to a spiritual plane by the artists from India. Dr.Krishna Kant Shukla returned to India after earning a Ph.D in Physics from SUNY, Buffalo in early 90’s to devote himself to music. He enthralled the audience with his earthy voice singing Kabir Bhajans in both classical and folk style of Varanasi.
Dr. Shukla is a classical singer trained by Ali Akbar Khan, Lakshmi Shankar and is especially devoted to the musical art of Kumat Gandharva. The open-air concert was an elegant mixture of classical and folk traditions of Kabir in song. Sri. Prahlad Singh Tipanya (second from the right in the photograph) a primary school teacher from Lunyakheri village in Madhya Pradesh sang Kabir bhajans in the folksy tradition of central India. He was ably accompanied on violin Devnarayan Sorolia. His brother, Ashok Tipanya also sang with him and played manjira (small cymbals). His son Ajay Tipanya played the Tabla and Barbara supported on the Tanpura. This musical tour of the U.S.,lasting several months is sponsored by the Indian Council of cultural Relations. Prof. Linda Hess who teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University and her current research on the oral traditions ofKabir inspired her to organize the Kabir singers’ tour in the U.S.
(Dr. D. V. Giri E-mailed to the editor at India West on Thursday, October 9th,2003)