The notebook of kabir

Kabir is the most alive of all dead poets. He is a fabric without stitches. No centres, no edges. Anand threads his way in.Over the years, as a publisher and editor, Anand immerses himself in the works of Babasaheb Ambedkar and other anticaste thinkers. He gives up his practice of music and poetry, blaming his disenchantment on caste. One day in Delhi, Anand starts looking for Kabir. He finds him here, there, everywhere. He begins to pay attention to the many ways in which Kabir’s words are sung, and translates them. Soon, Kabir starts looking out for Anand.The songs of Kabir sung by a range of singers—Prahlad Tipaniya, Fariduddin Ayaz, Mukhtiyar Ali, Kumar Gandharva, Kaluram Bamaniya, Mahesha Ram and other wayfarers—make Anand return to music and poetry. Anand translates songs seldom found in books. Along the way, he witnesses Kabir drawing on the Buddha, often restating ancient suttas in joyous ways.The Notbook of Kabir is the result of this pursuit with no end in sight. This is the story of how Anand loses himself trying to find Kabir."It is almost impossible to capture The Notbook’s essence. Its seductive fragrance lingers on like the sound of silence after the drone of the tanpura fades out. Kabir is a tune that you can’t get out of your head, which takes over your life. He has been hummed for centuries without pause. See what happened to Anand. ‘Kabir had gone to his head, and he’s full of emptiness.’ Kabir had fun with god and now Anand has fun with Kabir. He invites us to join him on an unending journey to musically encounter Kabir the legendary master weaver who wrought his loom to produce a simmering tapestry―ethereal and durable at the same time. What resonates powerfully in Thinner than Water, Fiercer than Fire is the cry against injustice and inequality that pierces the deafness that surrounds us. There remains only bliss that is experienced when the ego is a extinguished. The Notbook of Kabir is a life-altering masterpiece." ― Pushpesh Pant, historian and writer Anand writes poems in English and Kabiri. He translates poetry from many Indian languages and sets them to ragas. He’s a student of dhrupad. As publisher at Navayana, he has worked with a range of writers, translators, artists and poets. He has annotated and edited some of Ambedkar’s key writings, and this has informed his poetry and music. Anand lives in Kabirstan.