Book description
Mimlu Sen is living a bohemian life in Paris when she witnesses an
electrifying performance by three wandering minstrels from rural
India. They wear flowing, multicoloured robes and play frenetic
rhythms on strange instruments made of wood and clay, capturing the
many moods of nature and passion. After her turbulent past, including
a year in a Calcutta jail, Mimlu instantly knows it is time to set off
on the journey of her life.
One of the minstrels, Paban Das Baul, is a gifted young musician
with a growing international reputation. Mimlu defies prejudice to
travel with him deep into the heart of Bengal, the rural hinterland
behind Calcutta where few tourists ever go. In this fascinating and
unusual book, she describes how they make their way across country,
from shanty town to village, from monastery to festival, perched on
the roofs of buses and squeezed inside trains, encountering tantrics
and sages, exorcisms and witch sightings, catfish that climb trees and
esoteric secrets - and fall in love.
With Paban's encouragement, Mimlu too performs for alms - 'gathering
honey' in the traditional Baul way - and is initiated into a hidden
world of song, sensuality and adventure as wild and unpredictable as
the landscape itself.
Mimlu Sen is a translator, musician, producer and composer. She
collaborates with Paban Das Baul on all his recordings, performing with
and managing his group on their concert tours around the world. She has
travelled, and worked, between India and France since 1969, and was born
in Shillong. This is her first book.
