'Don't Fall In Love With Those Who Wander In Boats' - A film by Shabnam Virmani

Описание: 21:45 min, Eng subtitles, 2021
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This film takes inspiration from the poetry of the 18th century Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, widely held to be the greatest Sufi poet of the Sindhi language. His poetry is collected into the 'Shah Jo Risalo' which has thirty ‘Surs’ (poetic chapters or musical modes), based on well-known folk stories, love legends and historical events. Some are based on the lives of ordinary people – weavers, blacksmiths, potters, fishermen. Evidently, Latif had himself walked, breathed, sweated, delighted in, and known the lives of the ordinary people of Sindh, making him not just a great Sufi poet but also a great folk poet.

Latif was well-versed in the Qur’an and the Hadiths, and also deeply attached to the poetry of Rumi. Disappointed in love, Latif is said to have left home at a young age and wandered for three years with Nath Panthi yogis in parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan and the entire breadth of Sindh... an experience that gave him intimate knowledge of an iconoclastic stream of Hinduism. Literary scholars favouring Islam lean towards interpreting his poetry entirely as a call to Islam. On the other hand, many Hindu-Sindhi and other scholars tend to stress the influences of Vedantic thought in his writings. Latif himself was not bothered with narrow sectarian concerns. According to a story, once he was asked by a disciple whether he was Shia or Sunni. He replied that he was in between the two. The follower said, ‘But Sayeen, there is nothing between the two!’ ‘Precisely,’ replied Shah Latif, ‘I am nothing.’

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The soft-spoken and deeply learned Umar Haji Suleman belongs to the camel rearing nomadic community of Fakirani Jats, and lives in Asari Vaandh village of Kutch, Gujarat. Umar Kaka's love of Sufi philosophy and Shah Latif's verse ignited at the young age of 7 years, under the tutelage of his teacher Haji Umar. He was initiated into 'Shah jo Raag' by listening to his father Haji Suleman sing the Surs of Shah Bhitai, a love that he nurtured while grazing camels, goats and cattle carrying a copy of the precious Shah's Risalo with him. Reading the beyts of Sur Samundi by Shah Latif drew him into a 20-year stint in the fishing business. During the pandemic, Umar Kaka has created a learning space in his home to teach children, especially little girls from the villages of his region, the poetry and music of Shah Latif. He can be contacted at 91-99259-76663.

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Saif Samejo is lead musician of the popular Pakistani music band The Sketches which came together in the year 2009. In 2011-12 he envisioned the Lahooti Live Sessions as a platform to record with indigenous folk artists of Pakistan who were ignored by mainstream society and media, with a view to accord them due respect, create a space to help revive and preserve their art forms and in some measure also financially empower them. This initiative grew into the annual Lahooti Melo in 2016, which today is a big stage in Pakistan for artists to come and perform from all over the country and foreign lands. He lives in Jamshoro and can be contacted at [email protected]. 

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Zulfiqar Fakir is a folk musician from Tharparkar region of Sindh, Pakistan, who plays the burindo and other folk instruments. He is recipient of the Latif Award, the Presidential Award of Pakistan and has recorded with Coke Studio, Pakistan. He can be contacted on FB. 

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This film is first in a Lockdown Film Series called Ajab Mulakaatein, an attempt by the Kabir Project and our friends to travel and meet in wondrous ways despite the odds of the pandemic and its many lockdowns. Stumbling through virtual roadblocks, breaching borders and creating new digital intimacies on Zoom, we connected with diverse folk musicians of Kutch, Malwa, Rajasthan and Sindh to once again listen and share the gift of conversations and songs from the oral traditions.

As we share these films with you in the spirit of finding solace and strength, we urge you to support the folk artists. The funds raised will be equally shared with the artists we recorded with during lockdown. Contribute here: https://pages.razorpay.com/AjabMulaka...



Film Credits -
Direction - Shabnam Virmani
Editing - Sultana Zana
'Sei Jobhan Deenh' - Poem by Shah Latif, Song by Saif Samejo, Burindo by Zulfiqar Fakir
Ideation & Production Support - Prashant Parvataneni, Smriti Chanchani, Masoom Parmar
Art & Design Advisor - Smriti Chanchani
Artworks - Smriti Chanchani, Kavya Sabin
Motion Graphics - Kavya Sabin, Sultana Zana
Production Support - Psalm Paul, Anwar Lohar, Asif Rayama
Sindhi Language Support - Anwar Lohar
Interviews & Translations - Shabnam Virmani
Social Media & Publicity - Masoom Parmar
Financial Support - Embassy Group & Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology
Presented in collaboration with Sindhi Culture Foundation
Produced by the Kabir Project @ Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology. Bangalore, 2021