Played the streets of Stroud the other day, struggling to get going at first, then switching to autopilot, playing as I watch the world (and the Roma Big Issue seller) go by."Nakal korey padi askal" - "It's by faking that you get to the real," Mimlu Sen is told in her book The Honey Gatherers, about the bards of rural Bengal, the Bauls.
Bauls (from vatula, ones possessed by the wind, errant, drifting) are wandering musicians who busk from village to village, train to train, even bus to bus. They featured in Georges Luneau's Le Chant des Fous 1979. (And check out www.bauliana.blogspot.com)
"To the poor they offered the divine light of inner vision; to the sick and ageing, they gave the comfort of faith and cured them with songs, natural mediciene and yogic practices," writes Mimlu.
Dressed in their long, flowing alkhallas, the Bauls, once patronised by local villagers, struggle to cope with the new way of life in India. According to the book's jacket (Rider Books, 2010) Mimlu Sen collaborates with Baul musician Paban Das Baul.
On another note.
Philharmonic Orchestera saxophonist returns home after his performance of Maurice Ravel's Bolero.
'Who was conducting?' asks his wife.
"I didn't look," replies the sax player.
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