'Govindo Gaayo Nahin' by Mukhtiyar Ali

In this song Mukhtiyar Ali strikes an achingly beautiful note in the voice of Kabir, urging us to take stock of our lives and reflect on what we’ve truly earned in all this time spent on earth, if we haven’t sung the name of Govind, if we haven’t cultivated mindfulness. The song poses this poignant question. What is our real earning? What is our real wealth?

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Find lyrics/translation of this song at
http://ajabshahar.com/songs/details/6...
Discover a universe of Bhakti, Sufi, Baul poetry and music at http://www.ajabshahar.org.
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This was our team’s first visit to Bikaner in Rajasthan in the year 2004. We had met with Mukhtiyar Ali and other singers, travelling to the villages with them for a few days of immersion and 'masti' in the songs and meanings of Kabir and other mystics.

They had come to our hotel room this morning to say goodbye. Since Mukhtiyar had none of his own instruments, he borrowed our tambura, freshly bought from Ramdev Pir ka Mela in Runij, and began to strum. The light in the hotel came and went, as Mukhtiyar sang. When magic happens, mostly it isn’t planned for, or crafted. It simply arises in the moment, un-self-consciously.

(Click on Settings for subtitles in English & Hindi. Click ‘B’ on keyboard to remove the black background in the subtitles.)

Mukhtiyar Ali is a extraordinary performer of Sufiana kalaam and Bhakti songs from the village of Pugal, in the western most part of the state of Rajasthan in India. He belongs to the Mirasi community, whose traditional occupation has been to sing, and has imbibed the tradition from his own father and elders. Today he is a highly versatile artist, collaborating with many contemporary musicians such as Vasundhara Das and Mathias Duplessy. For the Kabir Project team however, Mukhtiyar ji remains the fiesty singer we met in Pugal, who’s music blew our minds, and whose understanding of Kabir was honest, clear and from the heart!

Contact Mukhtiyar at: 91-94131-06911, [email protected], www.mukhtiyarali.com.

Download Mukhtiyar Ali’s music at https://www.oklisten.com/MukhtiyarAli

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).

Translation: Shabnam Virmani and Vipul Rikhi

Video Credits:
Camera: Shabnam Virmani
Editing: Shruti Kulkarni
Sub-Titling: Anand Baskaran & Shabnam Virmani
Collection: The Kabir Project

Date of Recording:
25 September 2004