Dastan-e-Kabir

image courtesy mahmood farooqui
01 August, 2016

15 JULY

BAHA’I HOUSE OF WORSHIP, LOTUS TEMPLE

The Lotus Temple hosted Dastan-e-Kabir, an evening of performances to celebrate the poetry of Kabir through dastangoi—an Urdu storytelling tradition—and fusion music. Dastangoi has recently seen a revival of sorts, led by artists such as Shamsur Rahman Faruqi and Mahmood Farooqui. Ankit Chadha, the evening’s dastango, or storyteller, has worked closely with Mahmood. Dressed in the traditional garb of a dastango, purportedly similar to that of Kabir himself, Chadha ricocheted between biographical accounts of Kabir and his own experiences. Chadha’s act was followed by a musical tribute to Kabir by the band Neeraj Arya’s Kabir Cafe, who render Kabir’s poetry through music infused with rock, pop and indigenous music.

~ Sreshtha Sen