"Social Media is incapable of censorship" ::::::: Arun Jaitley knew how to expose Congress : In 2019 - he said : "When the finger points to the moon, the idiot always points to the finger" :::

 

Born December 28, 1952, Arun Jaitley breathed his last on August 24, 2019.

Some of his best debates were during Lokpal crisis, the Liberhan Commission report on Ayodhya and the GST Bill.

Earlier in 2002, he was one of few leaders who defended Narendra Modi strongly for the post-Godhra riots. For long - Jaitley was the real 'Delhi' contact - the eyes and ears - for Narendra Modi.  

Best way to pay tribute to hm is to recall his statements and one-liners

## On March 27, 2019 during the height of election campaign, Jaitley displayed his oratory skill.

Criticising the Congress for allegedly trying to make a mountain out of a molehill in reference to PM Narendra Modi making the announcement about the space mission, Jaitley had said: 

"When the finger points to the moon, the idiot always points to the finger".

In Today's context, that in circa 2026 - when Modi has flagged off the debate around the phrase 'Dimagi Naxal', recalling Jaitley's words of gem would be most relevant.  

Like most political observers including the humble blogger; Late Jaitley also noticed that by 2016; the Congress party was tilting towards an 'ultra-Left-Liberal' ideology. It was being 'urban Naxals' or what is now being more accurately described by Namo - the Dimagi Naxals.  

To make the argument read simple and easily palatable to vast majority of Indians including those who gave up seeing reasons either by conviction - one must say even as the war against Naxalism (Maoism) has been won in security/military terms, the nation must be cautious about the "mindset" 

India therefore now should be careful that notwithstanding the fact that the guns have fallen silent; the nation must now remain extra-cautious that the "ideology" that justify Naxalism does not find a new route. Here comes the relevance of Jaitley used to say - 

"Fringe organisations have no hope of ever coming to power.  They can, therefore, afford to take positions which they will never have to implement.  

"But can a Party (that is Congress) having ruled India for such a long tenure, push itself to take fringe position one after the other?  This in reality is the price which each Congressman will pay because its leader (Rahul Gandhi) has decided that fringe position are better than the mainstream one."  

More samples:   

"When its current President (Rahul in 2018) along with certain Left Party leaders visited the Jawahar Lal Nehru University (2016) when the slogans of “Tukde Tukde” threatening India’s geographical integrity were raised, I had questioned its leadership in a Parliamentary debate whether its earlier leaders would have ever allowed a Congressmen to identify itself with the national disintegration campaign. " 

Rahul's pro-Naxal tilt was again castigated:

Jaitley wrote in 2018 - "But its current leader (Rahul) preferred a fringe position.  On use of technology he opposes the EVMs and wants to go back on ballot paper.  On digitization he prefers cash over the digital mode of transaction and having the pioneered the original idea of a Unique Identity Number".

We may also take note for pro-Naxalism style and substance and at times (anti-India jargons) had grasped Congress. 

* Burhan Wani was not a Naxal, but his death in 2016 produced enormous public mobilisation in Kashmir.  

** Terrorist Afzal Guru, responsible for Parliament attack in 2001, became an object of political and campus controversy.

His execution was turned into a debate about the Indian state, rather than keeping the victims of the Parliament attack at the centre. 

(Afzal hum sharminda hain, tere qaatil abhi zinda hain -- who was 'qatil' of Afzal --- Supreme Court of India or the Indian establishment as a whole).  

Binayak Sen was another such character. He was "convicted by a Chhattisgarh trial court" in 2010 in a case involving links with Naxal figures and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Later he was granted him bail in 2011. He was made a 'celebrity' by Congress and other civil-liberty ecosystem. 

After his release, Sen was accommodated by Sonia Gandhi and UPA at the instance of 'urban Naxal' intellectuals.

Binayak he was appointed to a Planning Commission health-related steering committee. The socio-political significance is not lost. 

As per Jaitley's statements go ... In 2014, he wrote:

"The Union Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde has an ever smiling face. He is a man known for his courteous behaviour. Surprisingly he has chosen to threaten the electronic media which he finds is no longer government friendly. He threatened to expose it and even reveal information which intelligence agencies provide him against the media. It was an un-Shinde like statement."

On 'social media' itself; Jaitley had said - By its very character, the Social Media is bound to be a little blunt but somewhat irresponsible  at times. It is incapable of censorship".  

Here are a few more samples of Jaitley's 'gift of the gab'.

When in December 2011, the UPA government failed to pass the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha late mid-night hours - Arun Jaitley had summed up the entire game saying: 

"Fleedom at midnight".

"Enormity of protests is proportionate to anger and the enormity of anger is proportionate to the corruption". - 

Arun Jaitley on Manmohan Singh government's handling of Corruption and demand for a Lokpal in August 2011.

Finding faults with the handling of the civil society activists and Anna Hazare chiefly, Jaitley had said, --- 

"You led them up to a garden path, then suddenly dumped them. Now they do not trust you anymore."  

On Liberhan Commission on Babri-Ram Temple dispute:

(In Rajya Sabha, Dec 9, 2009)

Jaitley had said:

# "If you say you want to build a temple at the sacred site, then you are not secular, but if you say that the temple should not be built, you are secular". 

Rejecting the commission report, Jaitley wondered why it took 17 years to write it, 

"Was it being used to perpetuate self-employment?" he said in reference to the Commission chairman.

ends 

Just 150 days ago, Balen Shah became PM of Nepal, riding on a wave of Gen Z protests; but governance lapses, diplomatic missteps, mounting crises exposed him !!

How Nepal's Gen Z hero Balen Shah lost his political shine in just 150 days

Just 150 days ago, Balen Shah became the PM of Nepal, riding on a wave of Gen Z protests. But governance lapses, diplomatic missteps, mounting crises and his growing distance from Parliament and his own party have dimmed the shine of the youth leader.

In July 2026, communal clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in the southern districts near the Indian border left three people dead, forcing Shah to deliver his first major public address as PM. 

This appeared to be the moment that finally shattered Balen's image as an outsider who could change things.

It has been 150 days since Balendra 'Balen' Shah took office as Nepal's prime minister on March 27. 

He looked like a man who had finally broken Nepal's political cycle dominated by the old guard. That image, though, seemingly did not survive even the first 150 days of his rule.

A former underground rapper, structural engineer and Kathmandu mayor, he rode a Gen Z-Wave, the world's first such revolution, that toppled a sitting government. 

In the March 2026 election, he defeated four-time Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on the veteran's own Jhapa turf and helped his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) secure a majority.  

Young voters who had seemingly never connected with the revolving-door politics of the last 17 years saw in him accountability, energy, and also a break from the old guard.

By July, however, the same generation that carried him into office was back on the streets of Kathmandu, demanding his resignation.  

The biggest warning sign, however, is not on the streets but inside the institutions Shah now leads. His growing distance from Parliament and even his own party has raised questions about how he governs, and whether the political alliance that brought him to power is beginning to fray.

The speed of the reversal makes for quite a story. In five months, Balen's popularity has been eroded by a series of crises that overlap.

In April, Shah enforced strict customs rules on goods brought from Indian markets before backtracking.

Balen Shah ordered strict enforcement of customs duties on goods bought across the open border with India. 

Anything above a low threshold was taxed, hitting the everyday purchases of ordinary Nepalis who depend on Indian markets for medicines, groceries and household items. 

The move triggered immediate public anger. Facing protests, the government quickly reversed course.

Then, in May came a self-inflicted border controversy involving India.
In June came an awkward diplomatic episode involving his own party chairman Rabi Lamichhane, who visited India, and held high-level meetings across the political spectrum. The reception Lamichhane received, made everyone take note.

Balen had refused one-on-one meetings with foreign envoys below the rank of minister, including India's foreign secretary. 

Then, on August 10, Shah ended his self-imposed restriction and met Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming separately at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu.

The failures of Balen's governance were also highlighted in July, when a ride-share driver, Ganesh Nepali self-immolated over issues with the municipal police. 

Then, public frustration was seen in protests over the government's eviction of landless squatters and informal settlements without adequate rehabilitation.

ends 

J&K re-starts probe into 1998 Wandhama massacre of 23 Kashmiri Pandits :::: 10 women and four children were killed by terrorists on January 25, 1998

Investigators are pursuing fresh leads, including the identification of terrorists and over-ground workers, while revisiting evidence and suspects in several decades-old Kashmiri Pandit killings.  

The killings had taken place on the eve of Republic Day and during the night of Shab-e-Qadr, one of the holiest nights of the Islamic holy month of Ramzan in 1998. 

The Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) has reopened the investigation into the 1998 Wandhama massacre, in which 23 Kashmiri Pandits were killed, as part of a wider push to pursue long-pending cases of targeted killings during the peak of militancy in the valley.

The agency has also stepped up its probe into the killing of prominent Kashmiri Pandit leader Tika Lal Taploo and the assassination of Justice Neelkanth Ganjoo.

The development comes after the SIA recently reopened the cases of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat and writer Sarwanand Koul Premi and his son Virender Koul.   

SIA conducted raids at multiple locations in the Kashmir Valley a few days ago in connection with the Wandhama massacre and Taploo's killing. Investigators are now working to identify terrorists and those who helped them in the cases and establish their roles in the attacks.

23 KASHMIRI PANDITS KILLED IN WANDHAMA

Heavily armed terrorists entered the homes of Kashmiri Pandit families in Wandhama village of Ganderbal district and killed 23 people, including 10 women and four children on January 25, 1998. 

The case remained unresolved for decades. The renewed investigation is part of the SIA's broader effort to revisit militancy-era cases that had remained pending for years.  

According to reports citing the lone survivor, a 12-year-old boy, a group of armed men entered his family's house asking for tea, then opened fire on the family and on neighbors. Among the dead - all Hindus - were ten women, nine men, and four children.

The US Govt had extended condolences strongly condemned the attack, and had called upon militant organizations in Jammu and Kashmir to cease all acts of terrorism.  

Wandhama in Kashmiri means ‘hot in winter’ - that is providing comfort to its people. 

There is an interesting story about how Wandhama came to be inhabited by human population. In old days gone by, it was a dense forest, full of thorny bushes called by Kashmiris as Krahdazand. Extreme poverty forced Mansa Ram Bhat and his brother, Ramchand to abandon their ancestral village Kaloosa in Bandipore. 

While Ramchand settled down in Manigam, Mansa Ram came to Wandhama.  

In 1990, when the terrorists put the Pandit community on hit list, one Narayan Bhat’s family took no chances.

It migrated along with eight other families of Wandhama. 

A big mob from Barsoo had came and entered Pandit courtyards. 

They had used abusive and provocative language asking Pandits to leave. Pandit Sudershan Bhat, who was among those killed in 1998 massacre also advised his son Dileep Kumar and his two daughters to leave. Dileep had received some threats. 

Only Sudershan, his brother and Mrs Sudershan Bhat stayed back. Dileep had met his parents last time in January 1996. 

His parent’s last communication to him was in the forum of a letter in December, 1997 in which they had mentioned that they would visit them by January-end. But that was not to be.

ends 

Self-interest of Muslims was apparently hit by PM Modi’s' culture of politics' and the 'politics of culture'

The self-interest of a community — Muslims — was apparently hit by PM Nrendra Modi’s culture of politics and the politics of culture he tried. 

The opposition narratives and media analyses framed these reported differences as a deep leadership tussle or a clash over future political succession.

There were other facets.

The self-interest of a community — Muslims — was apparently hit by Modi’s culture of politics and the politics of culture he tried.

Developments, houses for the poor, including Muslims, good roads and toilets did not matter. Muslims united to vote for the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.

This was not communal.  But Hindus voting for the Ram temple was communal?

Do not miss the rejoicing in a Pakistani newspaper headline that described Nitish Kumar and N. Chandrababu Naidu as “pro-Muslim” leaders.

Why did the BJP lose Ayodhya and Faizabad? Why did UP voters simply turn anti-BJP and anti-Modi-Yogi? Perhaps more importantly, why could BJP strategists led by Amit Shah and supervised by the prime minister not read the missive of people’s angst?

The Times of India said: “Nothing Shines forever — Not even Brand Modi.”

The BJP and Yogi took some corrective steps in by-elections later, but overall, the 2027 battle will be tough.

The bigger question remains: Can Yogi Adityanath make 2027 “the year of my life”? And, beyond Uttar Pradesh, what could be the next destination of India’s most talked-about chief minister?  

The bigger question remains: Can Yogi Adityanath make 2027 “the year of my life”? And, beyond Uttar Pradesh, what could be the next destination of India’s most talked-about chief minister?   

With Uttar Pradesh heading towards a crucial 2027 Assembly election, a third consecutive victory could strengthen Yogi Adityanath’s position within the BJP and sharpen speculation over his larger national role. 

Saffron-clad Yogi Adityanath, born Ajay Singh Bisht in 1972, is 54 years old. That means he is 22 years younger than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was born on Sept. 17, 1950.

In 2017 and in several elections after March 2017, Adityanath emerged as the new face of the BJP. There was a problem associated with that. He perhaps became a “direct competitor” to Amit Shah, now a trusted lieutenant of the “numero uno” of Indian politics, Narendra Modi.

Even if both leaders have not said anything about being rivals to one another, the media is convinced they are.  

For long playing up caste cards to the hilt, Mayawati’s BSP and Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party dominated the political mind space in Uttar Pradesh.

Even the defeats of 2017 and 2022 did not change their politics. But in the 2022 Assembly polls and later in the elections to urban local bodies, the Lotus party came out with flying colours.

The BJP managed to pick up 55 of the 147 seats reserved for OBCs.

Akhilesh Yadav also failed to win over non-Yadav OBC votes, and the saffron outfit decided to work well in the Yadav heartland and other areas.

Take another set of statistics.

Out of 82 SC-reserved seats for chairpersons in Nagar Panchayats, the BJP won a maximum of 37, followed by the SP with 14, while Mayawati-led BSP could win only five seats.

It is also worth noting that among OBC candidates fielded by political parties for Nagar Panchayat chairperson seats, 90 of the BJP’s nominees were elected. Independents won 83.  

Out of the 545 Nagar Panchayat chairperson seats, Samajwadi Party candidates won 38, while Mayawati’s BSP got only 23.

Of the 90 OBC candidates of the BJP, 27 were elected in unreserved seats.Politics

Adityanath is the chief priest of the state’s famed Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur, the region where he wields considerable political influence, perhaps also because of his hard-line views on Hindu religion and practice.

But Yogi and the BJP suffered a major setback in the 2024 parliamentary polls. One issue was joblessness among the middle class. Narratives were sold.

A decade before the crucial 2014 polls, the BJP had promised that jobs would be a top priority. Yet unemployment has barely budged despite India being the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

Four-fifths of the unemployed were young people, according to surveys in 2024.

It was also alleged that more working-age women were employed that year as a percentage of the workforce in Nepal and Bangladesh than in India.

The BJP’s detractors sold another powerful line: The fruits of growth were landing in the lap of India’s rich, drawn almost exclusively from the country’s upper castes who back the BJP.  

The Lotus party, a state leader said, had reports that workers in several constituencies, including Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Fatehpur Sikri, Mohanlalganj, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Faizabad and Jaunpur, were not happy with the choice of candidates. But the objections were overlooked.

The argument was that Modi’s magic would help sail the boat. It did not. In contrast, Akhilesh Yadav choreographed his Samajwadi Party’s election strategy around the theme of ...

“Roti, Kapada sasti ho and Dawai Pani muft ho” — people should get affordable food, clothing and free medicine and water.  And it gave dividends.

Perceived friction between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Amit Shah became a major talking point after the electoral setbacks, notably after the BJP’s reduced tally in Uttar Pradesh.

The opposition narratives and media analyses framed these reported differences as a deep leadership tussle or a clash over future political succession.

Naga Christian Voters : Can they vote for Yogi  

ends 

“Kolkatae war nei” — there is no chaos and violence in Kolkata, says a Bangladeshi girl - aged 10 now staying in Kolkata ... Thanks to 2024 ouster of the Awami League Govt and leaders

Imagine the fate of Bangladeshi Hindus who happened to be supporters of the Awami League and an elected prime minister named Sheikh Hasina.

Visit Kolkata and parts of West Bengal and Assam, and you will find these elements.

I once met a 10-year-old girl from such a background and casually asked her: “Which city is better for you, Kolkata or Dhaka?”
She did not answer specifically.
She merely said: 

“Kolkatae war nei” — there is no chaos and violence in Kolkata. Imagine what will permanently stay in her memories. Partition has also been blamed on Mahatma Gandhi. 

The impact of Partition on a Muslim family is depicted well in the Hindi film Garam Hawa.  

From the trauma of 1947 to the continuing hostility between India and Pakistan and the Bangladesh paradigm, Partition remains one of the defining ruptures in the history of the subcontinent.

“Partition’s pain can never be forgotten,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in 2021 as he announced that August 14 would be remembered as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.

The conference in New Delhi on June 7, 1947, where the Partition plan was disclosed: Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister; Lord Ismay, adviser to Mountbatten; Lord Louis Mountbatten, Viceroy of India; and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, president of the All-India Muslim League.Downloading Interactive Geographic Maps

We may look for all kinds of debates and arguments, but the fact of the matter is that the very concept of the nation had completely changed after Partition. 

Ironically, that element of change or transition is still a permanent feature.  

In film 'Garam Hawa', Balraj Sahni gave a performance of his life. He did not live long enough to see the film’s release and commercial success.  Salim Mirza, played by Balraj Sahni, does not want to leave India.

Salim’s two siblings migrate to Pakistan. Halim, the politician, realises he must move to Pakistan to flourish, taking his son Kazim.

Salim’s daughter, Amina, hopes to marry Kazim. But there is a twist. Once Kazim’s marriage to a politician’s daughter in Pakistan is decided, he runs away to Agra to meet Amina. But he is now “deported” for failing to register with the police because he is a citizen of a hostile country.

Garam Hawa maps real-life stories of how economic discrimination, along with the curses of Partition, property loss and societal shifts, slowly breaks apart the Mirza household.

There is one dialogue in Garam Hawa that should generate interest in contemporary polity. Balraj Sahni asks the character: “How come you are in Congress? You were all for Muslim League?”

The response is: “These days, post-Partition, Congress party gives us much importance.”

In Ritwik Ghatak’s Bengali film Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud-Capped Star), the character Nita cries out: 

“Dada, ami bachtey chai” — “Brother, I want to live.”

This comes at the end of the film, as she realises that all her life she has been exploited, thanks to Partition, her selfish family members and siblings. 

In the film, Supriya Choudhury plays Nita. Her elder brother Shankar, played by Anil Chatterjee, is unemployed but pursues his career as a classical singer. The younger brother wants to be a player, while the father is a former schoolteacher and does little to sustain the Partition-hit family.  

Blogger 

Angry protesters often marched to Birla House to voice their protest.

In the words of Manohar Malgonkar in his book 'The Men Who Killed Gandhi': 

“…when it turned out that the Muslim League was altogether unappeaseable, the Congress began to show signs of giving in to their demand for Pakistan, but Savarkar and his followers (that included Godse certainly) remained staunchly opposed to it till the very end, and so, to be fair, did a large number of people within the Congress organisation itself.”

It would be pertinent here to say that strangeness has always not only made history interesting — it has guided the course of history itself.

The two men, Narayan Apte and Godse, the elder of the two, were so different in personality. Yet, ironically, both had become the closest of friends. And they set out on a mission.

On a different plane, the real blame for Partition should have gone to those who went off in search of paradise in the new country.  

But the “real tragedy”, according to M.J. Akbar — and I endorse that — is that the price of Partition is not being paid by the people who got Pakistan but “by the Muslims in India” who stayed back and trusted their Hindu and Sikh brethren.

This is the irony and a melancholic turn. The fine line between moral courage and entitlement is often not understood well.

Hope is what rebuilds nations because people believe in its worth.

In the case of Pakistan and India, too, this was the norm. India set out on its own journey of nation-making, while Pakistan opted to work for ways and means to defeat its bigger neighbour. The results are well known.

We may now examine: 

What would have been the course of Indian history had protagonists like Mountbatten not come around to decide about India’s history?

Were the likes of Churchill already looking for a scapegoat in Mountbatten to pull them out of the mess?

Were the likes of Churchill already looking for a scapegoat in Mountbatten to pull them out of the mess?

“On the other hand, the Indian political scene had offered five foremost protagonists then to be dealt with effectively and individually, then collectively. 

The famous five — Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru, 

Liaquat Ali Khan and 

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel — were already divided politically…”

The Muslim League didn’t care about independence. All it wanted was Pakistan.  So the archrivals, the Muslim League and the Congress, which had never seen eye to eye about anything, finally found a common cause: the India-Pakistan split.

Both parties were shocked to see the Radcliffe Line, the boundary that demarcated India and Pakistan.   

It was too late. The subcontinent could never really recover from the bloody aftermath of Partition.

But what was our Partition? And, more importantly, did the history-makers and historians miss the bloodbath and the post-1947 pattern of permanent hostility between India and Pakistan?

Would India of today be different without the chief protagonist of the Partition theory — Mountbatten himself?

“If somebody had told me he’s going to be dead in X months, would I then say let’s hold back India together and not divide it? Would I have put back the clock and held the position? Most probably,” 

Mountbatten reportedly told Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre in exhaustive interviews later in the 1970s.

(courtesy - The Raisina Hills) 

ends 

'New' team will be good for hard work and actions; ... importance of "experienced" in decision can never be ignored ::: Thematic push in first meeting of BJP national office bearers

Old -- good for decision making ... 

... while New is good for action !!

 

BJP president Nitin Nabin is his maiden interaction with the newly appointed office-bearers in a special meeting also attended by the outgoing office bearers underlined importance of “Yuva Samvad” -- that is continuous engagement with the young people - of course Gen Z included. 

The thematic push in the meeting was -- while 'new' and young faces will be good for hard work and actions; the importance of the old and experienced in decision making can never be ignored or underestimated.   

Interactions also dealt party’s organisational strategies, focus for upcoming Assembly elections including UP, Punjab and Manipur. There was an exphasis for  

grassroots mobilisation and effective communication of government initiatives and result-oriented scheme. 

The office bearers and others have also been asked to draw out various programmes and outreach efforts for a month beginning Modi's birthday - Sept 17th. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the BJP’s 'newly appointed' national office-bearers at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday, their first meeting since party president Nitin Nabin unveiled his 65-member team on August 17.

“Organisational meetings are all about new ideas and perspectives aimed at strengthening the party and deepening its connect with the people. Great interaction with fellow party colleagues and the new organisational team,” PM Modi wrote on X after the meeting.

Notably, 51 of the 65 office-bearers are new faces. Two key Muslim leaders in Uttar Pradesh have been elevated.    

Team Modi-Nitin Nabin for coming decade 

PM Modi spent nearly four-and-a-half hours with the new team at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, marking their first meeting since BJP president Nitin Nabin announced the 65-member team on August 17.  

The BJP is planning major youth outreach programmes targeting people aged 14 and above, including members of Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

The party is also forming dedicated teams of senior leaders from across the country for the outreach drive. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha has been tasked with helping constitute and mobilise these teams, while former national office-bearers are also expected to play a key role.

Modi also held separate meetings with Nitin Nabin, BL Santosh and Shivkumar during his visit to the party headquarters.

In his meeting with Nabin, the Prime Minister discussed the names being considered for the BJP Parliamentary Board. 

The names of the new members are expected to be announced soon.

                                                                   

SUNDAY Spl ::::: Bengali folk 'Baul songs' enthrall Delhi audience ::: Baul Music can give a stage where religious belief and Pluralism stand side by side

 The musical number - 

আমার নাম কালো কৃষ্ণ বেদে।
আমার ঘর বাড়ি নাই, 

Aamar Naam Kalo Krishno Bede/ Aamar Ghor Barie Nai ... and a few others mesmerized a sizable Delhi audience.  

I have no home, no dwelling of my own, 

I wander from place to place; I catch snakes in forests, jungles and lakes

— My name is Kalo Krishno, the Bede. 

Most of those in the audience were north Indians. They might have had challenges in understanding word to word the heart-touching lyrics; nevertheless the power of Music is always universal. This definition comes to the fore more easily and 'emotionally powerful' with Baul songs.   

This variety of folk songs from West Bengal as well as Bangladesh is anchored in the “man of the heart”, a mystical theme that represents inner selves. -- “Moner Manush” !! 

The singer of the evening was Nilkanta Das from Tripura. The show was organised by a group of social workers - mostly women from India and also Bangladesh. 

The show was the valedictory session of Taanabana. The three-day exhibition of 'embroidery' dealt with rebellion-variety messages on women empowerment. What does a woman feel inside a bus ... that has not reached the destination or a roadside toilet on time ? 

Does human existence clash with the spirit of the Moner Manush along the international borders ?  

"We do not claim that embroidery undoes what borders do", says one of the organisers. 

Coming back to our focus area about Baul songs; Nilkanta says: "A Baul song is essentially connected to roots ... I sing songs those speak about human existence .. about nature, body, mind and land". 

As practical but often pessimistic as it may sound, this world is ravaged by greed and conflicts. 

Baul songs can offer some answers .. while taking its followers to the world of mysticism, peace and universalism. 

Interacting with the blogger - Nilkanta explains rather shyly :

"The Baul songs are grounded in Hindu bhakti movements and Sufism of Islam.. You can have a stage where a strong religious belief and the spirit of pluralism can stand side by side".  

Dr Nilkanta 

Mesmerized by the lyrics .... in effect after a long gap of a few decades; --my last exposure to a fest of Baul lyrics and music was in the late eighties in Shillong - I did some surfing on net.  

I discover the protagonist Lalon Shah, an influential icon in the Baul movement in Bangaldesh, who had highlighted the significance of  humanity first in his number - 

“manush bhojle shonar manush hobi”,

Blogger and the Baul singer 

There is another. Baul Rashid Uddin’s “Manush dhoro Manush bhojo”  (focus on man, worship thy man) == 

the lyricist urges people to put humans first because God can be found in humanity alone. 

Born in 1933 in Birbhum district, West Bengal, India, Purna Das Baul Samrat is considered a legend. 

In 2013, the UPA regime had conferred upon him the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth-highest civilian award.  

As a matter of fact,  Dr Rajendra Prasad, first President of India, had acknowledged Purna Das as the 'Baul Samrat' way back in 1967.

The underlining messages of Baul songs find similarities in the spirit of the poems (dohas) of Kabir.  

ends