You are listening with rapt attention and craning your eyes above the wall of the crowding passengers in a bid of impatient waiting, to have a look at your itinerant vocalist who has assured you already of a class of his own. The sweet melody of his voice catering a devotional type or a folk based song, mostly pensive in mood or though seemingly joyful in its outer fabric, actually sad in its inner ambience, is made sweeter and more melodious by the occasional sounds from a stringed instrument. You can't surely take him amiss for a common beggar as, with your discerning ears for talent, you have already awarded multiple credit points to him, acknowledging his proficiency as a vocalist and a musician.
The physical features of your entertainer are yet to be unveiled for you as he is still struggling his way forward through the crowd of the travelers in your compartment. The train has stopped at a small station, say Bataspur, Sainthia or Swadhinpur and suddenly overlapping the clamors of your never silent co-passengers or the cacophony let loose by the never subdued hawking vendors, a lone but distinct voice of a singer, rustic in flavor but singularly sweet and melodious in character, becomes audible to you as a pleasant surprise. All these places alongside the Sahabgunj loopline of the Indian railways are located within the district of Birbhum, about 200 Km west of Calcutta (Kolkata). Or even may be on your journey for a still further west shrine at Nalhati, one of the 51 Satipiths lying scattered all over India and even beyond its present boundaries, for paying your homage to Mother Kali, the creator and destroyer of the universe. Or may be your are heading further west for a visual acquaintance with the famous Kali temple of Tarapith near Rampurhat, distinguished as one of the greatest shrines of this country by the holy memories, in the ancient time by Rishi Bashista and in the relatively recent time by the great mystic and worshipper of the tantric cult, Bamdev, more widely known as Sadhak Bamakhyapa. Also, with your never ceasing curiosity and leaning to always take a feel of the rhythm and pulse of life of the common people wherever you go, you have selectively boarded a local train which stops at every station in its own leisurely fashion and shows not much of any inclination to leave with haste. As is natural for your scholastic bend of mind and your never satiated urge for more knowledge, you are keen for a quick visit to Santiniketan, known world over as a place of learning with a marked difference, made famous by Gurudev Rabindranath, the first Nobel laureate of Asia and his illustrious father Rishi Debendranath Tagore. It is not unlikely that you, my esteemed reader of the instant article, will be travelling someday in a train on the relatively obscure Sahebgunj loop of Indian railways connecting Bihar through the districts of Burdwan and Birbhum of West Bengal. Mansur Hallaj (The Great Sufi saint and martyr)
"I am He whom I love, and He whom I love is, I,Īnd when thou seest Him, then thou doest see us both."
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