| Invitation |
| Author of NINE LIVES |
| Press Release |
| Reviews |
Nine Lives - In Search of the Sacred in Modern South Asia |
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June 18 - 19, 2010 7:30 - 11:30 pm Asia Society and Museum 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street) New York City Writer and historian William Dalrymple reads from his latest book, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, at a special evening program kicking off his US book tour. Artists visiting from India and Pakistan will perform music and dance exploring ritual, ancient tradition, and sacred expression in contemporary society. The evening offers unique insight into the lives and spiritual beliefs of the performers, exploring how faith and rituals are thriving in South Asia despite huge social and economic changes. Nine Lives looks at South Asia's diverse sacred traditions through the personal stories of a Sufi, a possession dancer, a Buddhist monk, a Jain nun, a tantric, and others. While much has been written about how India is transforming at a most incredible rate—the economy has been predicted to overtake that of the US by 2050—little has been said about the way the country's growth has affected the great South Asian traditions of mysticism, monasticism, music, and dance. The evening's performances include Paban Das Baul, who comes out of the tradition of the Bauls of Bengal—the itinerant mystic minstrels whose beliefs draw on Vaishnavite Hindu and Sufi Muslim thought—and the Shah Jo Raag Fakirs, who sing at the shrine of Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai in Sindh, Pakistan. British Indian singer Susheela Raman offers insight into the Thevaram hymns of Tamil Nadu, and while the Theyyam Dance Group showcase the spectacular folk ritual from Kerala. The program is followed by a reception. Related events: |
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| PERFORMERS | ||
 William Dalrymple wrote his first book, In Xanadu: A Quest (1989), at the age of twenty-two. That year he moved to Delhi to research City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, which went on to win the 1994 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. White Mughals (2002) marked Dalrymple's shift from travel writing to history, and won many awards. His most recent book, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, will be published by Knopf in June 2010.Shop William Dalrymple titles at AsiaStore |
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The music of the Bauls refers to a particular type of folk song carrying the influences of Hindu bhakti movements as well as of Sufi music, representing a long heritage of preaching mysticism through songs in Bengal, like Shahebdhoni or Bolahadi sects. |
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 Shah Jo Raag Fakirs The Shah Jo Raag Fakirs belong to a family of musicians who sing at the shrine of Shah Lateef in Bhit Shah in the traditional manner created by the Sufi saint himself about 400 years ago. Their weekly sessions begin after the esha (night) prayers and last the entire night. Among the group's many honors are the Lateef Award and Rafi Peer Award in Pakistan. |
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 Susheela Raman and Sam MillsTamil Londoner Susheela is equally at home with South Indian classical music as with Jimi Hendrix and Fela Kuti, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Aretha Franklin. As a composer, arranger, and interpreter she has forged a unique, inclusive sound and has garnered immense critical and popular acclaim for her four albums: Salt Rain (2001), Love Trap (2003), Music for Crocodiles (2005) and 33 1/3 (2007). Accompanying Susheela will be her long-time collaborator, guitarist Sam Mills, and percussionist Atef Durvesh. |
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 Theyyam Dance Group Theyyam or Theyyaattam is a pattern of hero worship performed in Kolathunaad, a territory comprising the present Cannanore District and Badagara Taluk in Kerala, India. It is a ritual and a folk dance form supported by a vast literature of folk songs. Theyyam is a corruption of Devyam (God); Aattam means dance. Thus Theyyaattam means the God's Dance. In this ancient performance ritual featuring spectacular costumes and headdresses, ritual dancers "become" the deities. |
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| Held in association with Indo-American Arts Council, Inc. Major support for Nine Lives has been provided by the Rockefeller Foundation's New York City Opportunities Fund. Additional support provided as part of the Creative Voices of Islam in Asia project funded by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. | ||
Paban Das Baul & the Bauls of Bengal