'Chaadar Jheeni Rang Jheeni' by Prahlad Tipanya

Our body is a finely woven cloth and the taste of Raam ‘ras’ (nectar) is ceaselessly threading its warp and weft. We could imagine this Raam ras as our breath, which animates the very fabric of our body-selves. And the reckless neglect, emotional and physical violence that we wreak on it perhaps are the stains that soil this delicate cloth, defacing its beauty. The weaver bhakta Kabir created this image in a poem a long time ago. It has since moved countless listeners over several generations, making it one of the most iconic and widely recognized songs of Kabir today. The subtle body-cloth comes to life here in the voice of Prahladji and mandali in this feisty rendition from the oral traditions of Malwa in central India.

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Find lyrics/translation of this song at
http://ajabshahar.com/songs/details/5...
Discover a universe of Bhakti, Sufi, Baul poetry and music at http://www.ajabshahar.org.
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In 2003, this 15th century weaver poet from north India – Kabir – came alive in the unlikely context of north America, in a performance tour of the Malwi folk singer Prahlad Tipanya. This unusual journey was captured in the film – Ajab Shahar: Kabir in America – in which these songs of Kabir are interwoven with glimpses of the Indian folk artists discovering the culture of north America in myriad encounters. Here they perform at the end of their tour for artists and musicians gathered at a party to bid farewell to the troupe returning the next morning to India.

Prahlad Singh Tipanya is one of the most popular and respected folk singers of Kabir in the country. A school teacher by profession, Prahladji’s life took a deep and profound turn when he first heard the tambura – the five stringed folk instrument. That became the gateway for him into the world of Kabir, and since then he has been tirelessly sharing the power of Kabir with countless rural, urban and international audiences for over 3 decades. His village Luniyakhedi in Madhya Pradesh has become a destination for many seekers of Kabir. Along with his son Ajay Tipanya, Prahladji organizes the vibrant Malwa Kabir Yatra every year, where many singers gather and journey along with seekers into the villages of the region in a travelling festival. Contact Prahlad Singh Tipanya at +91-94250-84096 or his senior troupe member and violin player Devnarayan Saroliya at +91-98064-40481.

This tour was organized by Dr. Linda Hess, one of the finest scholars and translators of Kabir into the English language who has taught at the Stanford University for several decades. Write to her at [email protected]. The video – Ajab Shahar: Kabir in America – is one of several films on Kabir made by Shabnam Virmani, filmmaker, singer and director of the Kabir Project, located at the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore, India. Write to her at [email protected].

This is one of a series of uploads for Ajab Shahar, a webspace dedicated to mystic poem and song, created by the Kabir Project team (http://www.ajabshahar.org ; http://www.kabirproject.org).

Song Credits:
Vocals & Tambura: Prahlad Tipanya
Second Vocals & Manjira: Ashok Tipanya
Dholak: Ajay Tipanya
Violin: Devnarayan Saroliya

Song Translation: Linda Hess
Couplet Translations: Vipul Rikhi & Shabnam Virmani

Video Credits:
Camera & Direction: Shabnam Virmani
Location Sound: T. Jayashree
Editing: Shabnam Virmani & Waseem Sheikh
Editing Support: Tara Kini & Vasanth D. Kummy
Sound Mixing & Mastering: Clay Kelton
Collection: Kabir Project

Place of Recording: Rhinecliff, USA
Date: November 2003