In conversation with Birohi Kala Mia
Fifty-one year old Baul singer Birohi Kala Mia was born in Sunamganj. His parents named him Md. Habibur Rahman. Kala Mia’s grandfather, the late Jaban Ali, was a mystic and father, late Fakir Mohammad Monohor Ali, was also a Baul singer and songwriter who performed with Baul Shah Abdul Karim.
“I stepped into the world of music after receiving blessings from my father. I was greatly shocked by my mother Porijan Bibi’s death in 1972. Her demise created a vacuum in my life, and I changed my name to Birohi Kala Mia. The same year, I became a disciple of Kafil Uddin Sarkar and took musical lessons from him for four years,” said Kala Mia.
In 1977, Kala Mia’s mentor Kafil Uddin Sarkar introduced him to his [Kafil’s] guru, Durbin Shah, who trained Kala Mia for three years. By the end of 1979, Kala Mia moved to Sylhet for good.
“My guru Durbin Shah was a mystical man. His dehototto or spiritual quest is incomparable. He would write and compose songs, sing them and take his philosophy to the people,” said Kala Mia.
Durbin Shah is the composer of many timeless songs. Several songs like “Nirjon Jamunar Jol-e Boshiya Kadombo Toley” and “Amar Ontoraye Amar Kolijaye” attained much popularity among the masses. Jamal Uddin Hasan Banna, a popular singer from Sylhet, recorded the song “Amar Ontoraye” for the film “Bini Shutar Mala”.
“Durbin Shah frequently incorporated dehototto and Hindu religious themes into his songs. His songs such as ‘Underground Train Line-e’, ‘Oshto Jela Baro Thana’, ‘Naam Chhara Ek Daak Royechhey’ and ‘Je Daak-e Te Naam Lagena’ are such examples. Upon invitation from Durbin Shah Memorial Trust, I performed one of his songs, ‘Underground Train Line-e’ on Brick lane in London, UK in 2004,” said Kala Mia.
Kala Mia has been to London several times, to India (Silchar and Assam) five times and to Qatar and Dubai (once each) for shows. The artiste has written about 400 Baul songs. Several record labels have so far released 120 albums of the artiste. Shahjalal Audio Complex, Geetghar and Geetanjali (of Sylhet) released most of his albums including “Rosh-er Binodia”, featuring songs of the artiste’s father.
Soundtek released two albums by the artiste — “Janey Bondhua-e” and “Pollibala” — featuring songs of Durbin Shah and Qari Amiruddin respectively. Violinist Almas Ali Dewan directed music for the albums.
Fifteen years ago, Kala Mian performed pala gaan (popularly known as maaljor in Sylhet region) with Qari Amiruddin, Mujibar Rahman Sarkar, Shafiqun Nur, Baul Abdul Hamid and Ruhi Thakur. Their repertoire delved into dehototto, attototto, nigurototto, adam srishti, noor srishti, Rai-Shyam Dhara, guru-shishya, shariat-marefat, hashor-kiamat etc.
“I used to render pala gaan and played violin. Now I mostly perform songs of Durbin Shah, Radharaman Datta, Hason Raja, Shah Abdul Karim and my own. I have more than 200 disciples,” said Kala Mia.
“There is another artiste who goes by the name ‘Kala Mia’ (Pagol Kala Mia, of Sylhet) who claimed one of my songs ‘Okaroney Tulshir Mul-e Jol Dhalilam’ as his own. His real name is Abdul Jalil. Back in 2004, prior to my performance at York Hall, London, I sorted out the confusion. I also named my book of Baul songs ‘Okaroney Tulshir Mul-e’,” informed the artiste.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
