Bauls are mystics from Bengal who reach a state of trans through music. They are nomads and their beliefs transcend religious barriers of Hinduism and Islam. The word "Baul" is sanskrit for the wind. The title calligraphy is inspired from this connection as well as the music that they create wherever they go.
*Published in Asian Graphics Now! (Taschen, 2010)
"Freewheeling mimlu sen lives in Paris, where one day she witnesses an electrifying performance by three bauls, mystic minstrels from bengal, who spin like pillars of dust. Their music inspires her to return to Kolkata, and to go on an extraordinary journey with one of them, Paban Das baul; from her respectable home in the city to his humble village, and on to the verdant bengali countryside that is their common heritage.
Paban takes mimlu through the itinerant baul’s route—from the festival at Kenduli with its marathon performances, to tranquil shantiniketan, where bauls frequently stop en route and disrupt quotidian life; Agrodwip, deep in the Vaishnava world, to Nabasana, where mesmerizing guru hari goshain presides over baul games and ultimately, her initiation, to boral, where she holds her own mahatsava. Along the way, she encounters tantrics and tribals, exorcisms and witch sightings, catfish that climb trees and esoteric sexo-yogic secrets— and she falls in love. Full of colour, anecdotes and history, Baulsphere is the first popular account of bengal’s most magical musicians." Random House
