Forever seeking ..
The wandering minstrels of Bengal ( West Bengal, parts of Assam and Tripura in India and Bangladesh) - they are an intrinsic part of the rural culture. Called Bauls , they are restless , forever wandering and composers of songs that speak of eagerness for spiritual life where one meets the "person of the heart" - the eternal beloved . Even through their beliefs are a curious mix of Tantra, Vaishnavism , sufism and Buddhism , most of the compositions speak of rising above religious walls. Baul in Bengali,often is used to mean a wandering madcap who forever seeks.
Lalon Fakir -perhaps the most famous among them writes [Excerpt]:
Everyone wonders, "What's Lalon faith?" Lalon says, "I've never 'seen' the face of Faith with these eyes of mine!"
Circumcision marks a Muslim man, what then marks a Muslim woman? A Brahmin I recognize by the Holy thread; how do I recognize a Brahmin-woman?
Some wear a garland and some the tasbi, that's what marks the Faiths apart. But what marks them apart when one is born or at the time of death?
