The mainstream of religious life in Bengal, Hindu or Muslim, has always
had a parallel marginalized counterpart -- that of the lower class/caste
people -- swimming against the mainstream, rebelling against all
fundamentalist strictures, working furtively as a culture of silence that
is at the same time vocal in surreptitious dissidence. These sub-
cultural, liminal "religions" have always based themselves generally on
highly syncretic principles. But their practices or sadhonas are seldom
acceptable to the 'civilized' all-powerful educated upper class mainly
because of their sexual nature. The most prominent sub-cultural sect
working out of Bengal are the members of the Baul-Phokir faith.
Members of the faith across all sects and sub-sects regard Lalon
Phokir as the "King of Bauls," ubiquitously. He was probably born in
1774 in the part of the formerly larger Nadia district now in Kushtia,
Bangladesh, and died in 1890. He had (arguably) lived an amazing
116 years, a highly productive and devout life, gathering disciples and
composing innumerable songs. Legend has it that Lalon was born a
Hindu and became a Muslim under unusual circumstances. Lalon had
set out on a pilgrimage with friends, but contracted small pox soon
after departure, and was abandoned for dead. A Sufi practitioner,
Malam Shah, saved him from death. Later on, he was ordained into the
discipleship of a certain Shiraj Sain, but his interpretation of Islam was
radically different, a far cry from the Koran-based Shariati religious
order. Lalon sought to combine it with a loose reading of Tantric
Vaishnavism, for to him God was One; human beings have merely
made up different names and created institutions to enshrine Divinity
in external forms. Lalon wanted to situate his “faith” as counter-
institutional, but not as a counter-institution itself!
Lalon lived through one of the most interesting periods of history in the
South Asian subcontinent that witnessed cataclysmic changes that
came with colonial rule of the British. His songs reflect all of these.
Lalon worked within his small space in nineteenth century Bengal,
never aiming to reach high or even enter the world of literary fame.
The Bengali literati who controlled visible culture in Bengal in the 19th
and 20th centuries have traditionally viewed his music and poetry as
"folk art." The literati have always taken what they most needed from
Lalon and used it in their own agendas, whether to fold him up in the
discourse of a "feel-good" secularism or use him as an icon for a new
nation. The inner quest of the Baul-Phokir sect's bodily practice has
never been acceptable to educated upper class mainly because of the
sexual nature of their practice. But Lalon, the true philosopher and
artist, has existed on his own and in his own right.
What is Man of the Heart?
Consequently, Man of the Heart is no simplistic attempt to tell Lalon
Phokir's story through a flat biographic narrative that can at best be a
partial telling. Nor is it a dry, fact-based documentary. Man of the
Heart pushes the boundaries of normative theatrical practice in its
attempt to present Lalon as a translucent lens to both look-at and look-
through by means of a multi-media performance that invites the
audience to both empathize and analyze. This project is not merely an
effort to showcase a culture that is undeservedly underrepresented in
the global context (although Bengali is recognized as the sixth most-
spoken language in the world), but to translate the cultural specificity
of Lalon Phokir's work and bring out the universal human spirit in him
that transcends cultural boundaries. For Lalon left a deep message of
harmony for all humanity that cannot be downplayed, least of all in a
world that is suffering from the dire lack of it, and more painfully than
ever before.
of Man of the
Heart
of Man of the
Heart
