Taking inspiration from Kabir’s 'dohas'

She has taken series of journeys in quest of the 15th century mystic poet Kabir who shortened the boundaries between Hindu and Muslims. Meet Shabnam Virmani, the documentary filmmaker and co-founder of the Drishti Media Collective Artist-in-Residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore. She is also the director of the Kabir Project that started in 2003 to inquire about the spiritual and socio-political resonances of Kabir’s poetry through songs, images and conversations. Virmani talks to DNA about the relevance of sant Kabir in today’s turbulent times.

Considering that you are a journalist by profession how did you get drawn to sant Kabir?
In 2002 when I was living in Ahmedabad, I witnessed the Godhra carnage and the anti-Muslim programme which unfolded in Gujarat. In one of his dohas, Kabir said, Sadho, dekho jag baurana! (The world’s gone mad!) And I felt he was saying exactly what I was feeling at that point of time. Later, I started travelling with folk singers, who are devotees of Kabir, to Malwa and Rajasthan. I even went to Pakistan with a camera and traversed the diverse socio-cultural, religious and musical landscapes, meeting people who sing Kabir’s dohas. It gave me immense peace and satisfaction. I made four documentary films, several
music CDs and books on these experiences.

You are working towards compiling Kabir’s dohas (couplets) and work on his life online?
We have started work on constructing a multimedia web space where one can browse for music, poetry and ideas of Kabir.

This web space will be co-created with the help of folk singers along with innovative social experiments to encourage Kabir’s traditions at the village level.

We want to create an online museum wherein one can upload videos, research, documentaries, doha collections and poems, which people can access. It’s a vast knowledge space.

You have also made a documentary on Kumar Gandharva called Koi Sunta Hai: Journeys with Kumar and Kabir. Please tell us about it.

Kumar Gandharva made Kabir respectable. There was a general perception about Kabir that, Woh toh bhikhariyon ka gana gatey hain. Generally, classical singers would not sing Kabir’s dohas.

The film explores the boundaries we create in the field of art and music. Normally, the gharanas often get carried with snobbery but in the film we see how Kumar Gandharva had the courage to break the so called norms of classical learning.

What is relevance of Kabir in today’s world?
Kabir asks us to introspect. When one sees violence and dishonesty, he asks us to look inside ourselves. He asks us to recognise the subtle dishonesty and violence concealed within all of us.