Minstrels of Bengal use talent for a social cause
NGO appoints bauls to spread awareness about AIDS in rural areas of WB, says project is very successful ……….Jayatri Nag
KOLKATA:Bauls, the group of traditional wandering minstrels from Bengal, have been putting their musical talents to good use.
A group of folk singers from Birbhum district have been travelling from one village to another, strumming their ektara’s (a stringed musical instrument) and spreading awareness about AIDS through a medium unique to them — their songs.
The initiative started five years ago through the efforts of a local NGO, Sonata Foundation. The organisation had been spreading awareness about AIDS at Birbhum, when they thought of roping in the folk singers.
They minstrels are known for their educational and informative lyrics and the district is known for its baul singers — it is home to more than 300 of them.
The NGO gave them certain themes to work on and create their own songs. Since then, wearing symbolic red ribbons, the folk singers have been singing to crowds in the interiors of the district everywhere — at railway stations, market places, street corners, roads and even inside train compartments. The NGO now wants to take the initiative to other districts in West Bengal.
President of Sonata Foundation Prannoy Dutta said, “People love hearing baul songs as they have always been educational and informative. The method has been very successful so far.”
Some songs include, “AIDS Namer Ek Rog” (a disease called AIDS) and ‘AIDS Rog e Terey Dhorey Che (AIDS the disease has infected someone).
Rabi Das Baul, a baul singer from Birbhum said, “We sing to people from all strata’s of society and they always gather to listen to us. We speak about causes, dangers and prevention of the disease through our songs.”
The awareness campaign has a distinct method of functioning. At first, a youngster starts off with a popular baul song to attract a crowd. As soon as people gather around, people from the NGO speak about AIDS. The discussion is then followed by AIDS-related songs by the folk singers.
At the end, leaflets with information about the disease are distributed among the gathered crowd.
The singers create songs based on the themes given to them