& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Besotted with the "haul”
The electricity had falkd but the audience at the cafe of the Alliance Francaise sat attentive and completely absorbed with the feast of Bhawaias, Bhatiali. and Jari songs of well known singers and "haute."
The people, who were mostly foreigner*, specially Fren ch. and a few members of the local elite from the Fine Arts and Sociology Depa rtment, were fascinated by Shahjahan Mtah, the blind "bauf" singer, who lives in Manikganj. For the last 21 years he has devoted himself to the songs of the "haul" Lafon Shah.
“Baul" is taken from the Bangla word meaning "mad" or "affected by the wind". The "hauls" of Bengal are mystic troubadours of essentially humanist tradition transcending -religious orthodoxy. They have their sources in Buddhist, Vaishnavn (Hindu) and Sufi (Muslim) mystic traditions. Their search is for the essential human within each person.
Shahjahan Mtah accompanied himself on the "dotara" which is a four-stringed instrument tuned to two notes. He was accompanied by his fellow musicians on the "ek-tara", a singlestringed drone instrument, the "dhoT, and "jhurT, which are finger cymbals. Shahjahan Miah said he
earned about Tk 4000 a month going from village to village and this sufficed his family.
Rathindranath Roy. who also sang at the function, only earlier, talked of how the Bhawaia Is the bullock cart song of the road. There is always a sad note to the songs as the man is leaving behind his wife. He elaborated that the Bhawaia can be of various types.
Rathindranath explained the different types of Bhawaias There was the "Chatka with its rhythm of young lovers. "KhiraT was more detached and dealt with the beloved far away. "Dcholotto" dealt with the parts of the body, while seasonal songs, which were six in number, were sung when planting, cutting and threshing rice. The belt of the Bhawaia Includes Rangpur, Dinajpur and a part of Assam, the elaborated.
Dwelling on Bhatiali, Rathindranath spoke of how these songs essentially dealt with rivers and boats, with the boatman or the fisher man singing merely to entertain himself. While he dealt with the subject of crossing the river, the singer insisted, the fisherman added the subject >of conflicts of life and the hereafter. Speaking in the
same vyin, the singer spoke of the Murshtdi. They show the way to lead a perfect life," he commented. "They are highly spiritual." he added.
Speaking on the "cktaras" and the "dotaras." that were bqing used for the perfor manecs, Rathindranath believed that there was little way of preserving them. He himself cannot earn a living by merely singing although he performs both on the TV and the radio They get Tk 600 for the top TV perfor mancc and Tk 375 for the radio. He works in a chemical firm to ensure a secure living.
The Baul and Bhatiali songs in films arc never quite appro priatc. he commented as the music directors bring In modern singers.
Abdul Rehman Bayali and his party of four including Nayan on the "dhol", Obinash on the "dotara", Md. Alam on the harmonium also made an impact. Abdul Rehman Bayali has toured London. Japan, and Hong Kong. He enjoys travelling from village io village and singing for the pleasure of the multitude in Bangladesh too
Selecting from the performances at the Alliance Francalsc cafe, musicians are to be chosen to give six concerts at Paris.
—Fayza Huq.