Along Deep Lonely Alleys
Baul-Fakir-Dervish of Bengal
Paper Type: Book Print | Size: 216 x 140mm
Black and white, 392 pages, Hardback
ISBN-10: 9385285696 | ISBN-13: 978-93-85285-69-1
595 | 14 | 9
Are we truly familiar with the
deeper connotations of the terms ‘Baul-Bairagi-Dervish-Fakir-Sahajiya’ or for
that matter the Sufi and the Udasin—terms that we often loosely apply to
certain people or sects while ploughing through the routine walks of life? H.A.
Wilson (The Various Religious Cults of India) or Akshaykumar Dutta had rightly
spotted these people and produced seminal works on this community more than a
century and a half ago. In Along Deep
Lonely Alleys: Baul-Fakir-Dervish of Bengal, the author opens the doors to a new vision of this unique
world of wandering minstrels. Having travelled through the districts of Nadia,
Murshidabad, Birbhum and Bardhaman – cutting across tiny hamlets and
settlements tucked away in the farthest corners of Bengal – he completed an
intensive research over a period of time spanning two decades. These spiritual
communities and cults are unique as well as varied; the language they use and
the norms of living they follow are remarkably mysterious and tinged with a
certain rarity. The obscure mysticism in their songs and nuanced bends in their
train of thoughts and philosophy have been portrayed in the book through an
inclusive approach, with singular clarity and totality. A relatively unknown
world thrives parallel to the extensive studies in folk sociology and rural
cultural anthropology. Tracing this distinctive strain of folklore, music and
spiritual beliefs, this book throws up certain characters which have no
archetypes, lending a composite structure to it all.
Sudhir Chakravarti
Author
Sudhir
Chakravarti was engaged as
a professor in three colleges and two universities from 1958 to 2014 and was
also associated with the Institute of Development Studies Kolkata from 2010-14
as a guest professor. He had been awarded with the Ananda Purashkar in 2002 and the Sahitya Academy award in 2004 for his book, Baaul Fakir Katha. He is the recipient of many awards for his
academic writing.
Utpal K. Banerjee
Translator
Dr Utpal K Banerjee has been writing
on the arts and culture in several newspapers and journals and is a regular
contributor on cultural and professional programmes to London BBC, All India
Radio and Indian television. He has also written 33 books, including Hindu Joy
of Life (Niyogi Books, 2006), which has gone into a second edition. Dr Banerjee
was awarded the Padma Shri 'in recognition of distinguished service in
literature and education' in 2009.