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His guitar gently weeps
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Singing and strumming on his guitar, playing his harmonica, urban English folk singer Susmit Bose makes sure people experience the same heartbreak he does when he sees child labourers and other oppressed people
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UNFAIR PRACTICES Susmit Bose: `The children working in the carpet industry were so young they had dimples on their knuckles'
"How do you speak of freedom when your self is all in chains/ How do you see the rainbow without the rain?"
The man on stage whispers these words before making lively music with the harmonica fitted on a sling around his neck and we're reminded of Bob Dylan and his music. Often called India's Dylan, Susmit Bose was communicating not just his concern for child workers and other oppressed people but also his belief that people like you and me could, if we so decided, make a difference to others.
As he strummed the guitar, the Delhi-based urban folk singer had the audience musing about social issues — exactly what members of the non-governmental organisation Communication for Learning and Development (CDL) wanted him to do to celebrate its ninth anniversary.
Conches and bells sounded in distant temples to invoke the blessings of Shiva, but at the charming auditorium called Smritinandan, two men on guitars and a lady with a tambourine and a pleasant voice invoked the conscience of those present. Not at all a part of the Sivarathri celebrations elsewhere, Maheshwara did feature in Susmit Bose's "River of Life", a song about the Yamuna. "I don't subscribe to anger when I'm talking about a social issue," says the suave Bose. "I haven't set out to change the world with my music. You could say I'm like Sanjaya in the Mahabharat. I'm just trying to bring up the things I observe so that others can see them too. In India, more people speak English than speakers in US and UK put together. The `Establishment' too has a large number of English-speaking decision-makers, and so I decided to write and sing in English," adds the activist, film producer, director and singer, before starting out on a song from his new album Public Issues.
Activists can be interesting
Susmit engaged the audience in an easy manner. Like CDL, the singer too believes that social activists can be interesting, and that social work can be professional. Nattily dressed in a black kurta and white chudidar, Bose had people humming along. Son of thumri singer Sunil K. Bose, Susmit shocked the family when he picked up the guitar. "In those days, my family believed only ruffians played the guitar. But I was inspired by Bob Dylan and needed to do my own thing. So there I was, out of the house and playing what I wanted," says the man who went on to create with Savita Raj a 12-track musical album India Unlimited featuring some of the country's topmost artistes like Gangubai Hangal, Pandit Jasraj, pop star Remo Fernandes, sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Narayan on the sarangi, flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia and santoor exponent Shiv Kumar Sharma.
Remember "Hum Honge Kaamyab"? No, not the jingle for some mosquito repellent, but the original number that had a whole generation of Indians singing with hope and pride (and never mind it was a rip-off from the inspiring African-American gospel number "We Shall Overcome")? Bose arranged the music for the song while working with legendary composer Anil Biswas. And that hugely popular yesteryears cultural show on Doordarshan `Surabhi' had Susmit as one of its directors. Susmit's earlier albums are Winter Baby, Train to Calcutta and Man of Conscience.
Having been associated with NGOs like Sahmat, UNDP and HAQ, Susmit is now working with Viveka Foundation on a project partly sponsored by HIVOS to see how art can be used as an advocacy.
"I found that Rukmini Shekar of Viveka Foundation and I shared a similar agenda, and so we teamed up on this project," reveals Susmit. The petite Rukmini publishes Vivalok Comics, the comic books that are entirely Indian in their content and culture.
Deepak, a close friend who traded a 15-year MNC career for a guitar makes up the third of the team that tries to use music to reach out to people.
Reach out Susmit did, as he spoke of child workers in the carpet-weaving rooms in Uttar Pradesh. "The children working there were so young that they had dimples on their knuckles. And when they did not work fast enough, the supervisors hit them on those little knuckles," he said. "Who is to be blamed," he sang. "Silent are the fears, Swallowing their hunger, Will they sleep tonight... and the finger points at you and me."
Inspired too by Bengal's Baul artists who believe that mankind can sustain mankind, Susmit sang a beautiful Baul ballad in Bengali. This and other songs including Susmit's touching tribute to slain social activist Sanjay Ghosh, "... friend of a friend of a friend" was a reminder of the power of communication in learning and social development.
MALA KUMAR
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