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Chapter 1: How did Bhavik Haria's childhood influence his passion for bhajans?
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K-Rauta. Auttaa alkuun ja eteenpäin. Hmm. Mistäköhän saisit täydellisen katkarapuleivän? Tilaamalla tarjoilijalta.
Let's party. Nyt laivalle huippuedulliseen äkkilähtöhintaan. Varaa heti. Tallinksilja.fi.
Nonni. Lähetääks laivalle?
We're going to sing this one together. Three, two, one.
Persian jams or Hindu devotional songs have been sung for well over a thousand years. They've been a way of worshipping, gathering and staying connected to faith through music.
I do believe we're losing our culture a little bit. This kind of brings the community together.
It's very different to the bhajan. You can enjoy more together.
From the bhakti movement in 6th century India to songs featured in Bollywood films today, bhajans have evolved over generations. But now they're being reworked again to appeal to the younger diaspora.
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Chapter 2: What challenges are bhajans facing in modern communities?
But to have this much work is a blessing. So it's a real honour to be busy right now.
In recent years, since the coronavirus pandemic, pigeon jams or pigeon raves have become a global trend. But what are they exactly?
So bhajan jamming or bhajan clubbing is a trend that began in India. It's basically presenting bhajans in a different style. So the production is a lot more than you would normally see at a traditional bhajan event. You've got some lights moving. You might have some special effects. You have these big screens with visuals.
When I begin these bhajan jams, I always say to the audience that this is something that's been happening for a long, long time, for many, many years. Just in a different way. So our grandparents would gather in homes. They would sing bhajans. Our parents would attend temples and they would sing and chant together. In some degree, it's a bhajan jam. Now we're adding the element of production.
I think it's a great concept. It may fade away in a few years. Who knows? Something else will come. But I think the important thing is it's really engaging the youth, which is incredible.
Bhavik is 34 years old, average height with a slender build and a calming nature. He is one of the most popular Bhajan Jam artists touring in the UK and is regularly booked to perform across the world. But I wanted to know how a guy of his young age came to perform religious songs traditionally sung by elders in the community.
So for me it was 2009, 2010-ish.
And how old were you then?
I was 12. And music has been in my family for a long time. So my granddad was a big devotee of Jalar Ambapa, a Hindu god. And he used to sing all the time. When we had family functions, he would always open with a prayer. And initially, he used to sing for like 10, 15 minutes. And all of us kids used to get bored.
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Chapter 3: What is the trend of bhajan jams and how are they evolving?
I used to take that along with me at the time. It was like four times the size of me, but I used to lug it around and play. And for them, it was something new at the time because they just had the harmonium, the tabla, the manjira, and I was just trying something new. But that's where it began for me.
He's not the only young musician bringing pigeons to a new audience.
HE SINGS
Gauri Madhuri Dhanraj is performing with Bhavik in his London concert. She was born in Canada but raised in Guyana in South America and Pajans have been a part of her earliest memories.
I think I've always been into them. My father and his father before him and his father before him, they were Hindu priests, pundits. So I always grew up in Mandir, in the temple. And bhajans have always been the way that the lay people or the common people can connect to God.
especially because many of our scriptures are in Sanskrit and our bhajans are in Hindi or Awad Basha or the local Hindi language. So they've always felt special to the common folk. Yeah, so I think I was just kind of born into it and now it's just with me forever.
So for Bhavik and Gauri, their grandfathers played a pivotal role in instilling a love for devotional music in them. I wondered what it meant for those generations of their families who had moved to the UK and Guyana from India decades ago.
I think pigeons for that generation at the time was keeping true to what they had grown up with and understanding and enjoyed singing. And another big part is the legacy and ensuring generations to come understand. And as I said, sometimes we as kids used to think, oh my gosh, this is boring. Sometimes he'd go on for like half an hour.
But actually looking back now, it was such a beautiful way of creating this legacy for future generations to come. And now me and my cousins... We all enjoy listening to bhajans.
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Chapter 4: How are bhajan jams bridging cultural gaps for the Hindu diaspora?
Because we're from Guyana and the music there is a little more rural folk music. So when you come to Canada, you might look at those kinds of music and you think, oh, it's, you know, not as classy as the Indian Bollywood music we hear. But now, like I'm studying in my master's about Indian folk music and how it migrated and I'm starting to see and love it. the beauty of Indian folk music.
And I'm letting go of that kind of Western privileged bias of looking at folk music as not up to the same standard as classical music.
So you have a global perspective on Pajans because, you know, you live across Guyana and Canada, you're here in the UK now. Do people from all of these different countries receive Pajans in a different way? Or do you think they actually unite them regardless of which country they're from?
I think it's more of the latter, because, and this has really come to the fore in the bhajan jamming, because I've seen when I've done it in Canada, there's people there from, of course, Canada, but also all parts of India, like Gujarat, Punjab, North, South. Then you've got the West Indians, the Guyanese, the Trinidadians.
Then you've got the people from Africa, and you've got Fiji, you've got Mauritius, South Africa, Zimbabwe. So to have all of these diverse people in one space, what is really uniting them is the lyrics of those songs, the music behind those bhajans. Songs like Raghupati Raghav or Payoji Meni, no matter where we're from, as Hindus, we've all grown up hearing those songs.
Raghupati Raghav, Raghupati Raghav
To answer your question, yeah, I believe it's bringing us together and it's bridging those things that we think identify us as unique. And that's part of the reason why we come to Temple, too, to feel that link to our ancestral home in a foreign country, especially for so many of us who... have not been to India, or so many generations ago might have come from India.
So we've lost that kind of connection with India over the years, and now that's coming back through bhajans.
It's believed that bhajans have been sung for at least 1,500 years in India.
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Chapter 5: What personal experiences shaped Bhavik's musical journey?
You're listening to the documentary on the BBC World Service. I'm Rajko Bilku, and for Heart and Soul, I'm talking to two young musicians from either side of the Atlantic, Bhavik Haria and Gauri Madhuri Dhanraj, about why they're so keen to keep Hindu devotional songs, or bhajans, relevant to young Hindus and Jains around the world.
Govinda Bolo Hari Gopal Bolo Govinda Bolo
We've heard how Bhavik and Gauri were raised with bhajans that served as not just a form of worship for their grandparents, but also a link to their ancestral home of India. But what is it about them that they find so appealing?
So the love for me grew from beginning to understand what they mean and how powerful they are. Diving deeper into what these bhajans mean, I think, has enhanced my love for it. It's made it deeper and it's created this beautiful connection, which I now have the honour of sharing. In some ways, I think bhajans and slash music is medicine. I think it's a great way to pause, to reflect and
I think it's a great way to stay connected with your heritage, with your faith, with your religion. And that's whether you're religious or spiritual. So you don't have to be religious. Having that connection with coming with understanding what they mean, having that connection is really, really beautiful. So I think it's something that we all need to keep up.
Otherwise, for generations to come, it will fade away.
Are you religious?
I'm not religious. I mean, I'm Jane myself. I think I'm spiritual. I love visiting the temple. I love praying, but I'd call myself spiritual.
What does spirituality mean to you?
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Chapter 6: How does spirituality differ from religion for the guests?
So I try to do that through music or through teaching and try to blend that kind of seva with our religious tradition. So I think, yeah, that's what Hinduism sort of means to me.
So for you, singing Pajans is a form of seva, selfless service.
Yeah, I'm lucky that I get to sing in the temple all of the time. Other musicians, like we have to look for shows and gigs, right? But the temple, Hindu temples and all places of worship are where people come to feel safe or they come for a haven or for some kind of escape from the real world.
So I find that when you give them bhajans, it's like giving them therapy, peace, love, quiet, in this very, very busy and difficult world that we live in. So in my little way, that's my form of seva.
I first came across Bhavik when my friends in the UK were telling me how excited they are to attend his bhajan jam. Although I'm not Hindu, they knew it would appeal to me because I have a love for diverse music. And from the get-go, I was hooked. I'm attending a jam in Birmingham. The musicians are on stage. There's amazing energy in the room.
Around 200 people, all with hands in the air, singing along in a state of euphoria. Many of them are out of their seats dancing, and you can see why this has really taken on to young people. Religious songs accompanied by huge energy and vitality, something you probably wouldn't have seen generations before. But all that euphoria begins with some calm.
So if it's countable for you, we invite you to close your eyes. Take a slow, deep breath in and gently let it out.
When I came to the Birmingham concert, you started with some meditation. I was looking around and everybody was just so into it. Everybody had their eyes closed. They were listening to you. They were following your instructions. You're on stage. You're seeing hundreds, if not thousands of people in front of you. They've got their eyes closed. They're immersed in what you're saying in your music.
How does that feel?
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Chapter 7: What role do bhajans play in connecting generations?
Like, I'm doing it for myself. And the byproduct is people are enjoying it. And it's a blessing to be able to share that with others.
So you're there with gratitude? Yes.
Yeah, so much gratitude. So much gratitude. And going home and then I sit and it takes me two, three hours to like come down from this super high that I've built. And then I sit there and I look at all these stories that people have tagged me on, all these messages. Like some of them are essays. But I sit there and I read them.
Sometimes I cry, but sometimes I'm just like, our music has helped someone. Our music has done this or has helped this person go through X, Y, and Z. And gratitude is the right word.
Gauri sings at her temple, teaches music and performs concerts to audiences that sometimes number in the thousands. But in Hinduism, ego is something to be kept in check. And I wanted to understand how she stays grounded when so many eyes are on her.
That is a good question, and one I think more musicians should ask ourselves, because it is difficult. You're on a stage, and you're seeing these bhajans about Bhagavan, and in front of you are all these people who might not be looking at Bhagavan, but they're looking at you. And a lot of times people follow the messenger instead of the message.
You know, they get attached to the singer or the pundit or the guru. And they focus more on that and less on what the guru or the singer is trying to convey. So for me, it is very difficult because Abhimanyu, pride, it's so hard to keep in check. But I always try to remind myself that I'm just here in this position because I've been blessed with the opportunity and the privilege.
And if it wasn't me, it would have been somebody else. Like, I'm replaceable in this whole scheme of things. So my mission is to just do the best with whatever little time I've got, whatever resources I've got. And if I don't do it, somebody else will. So I'm just another instrument of Bhagavan to be used as he wishes. And when my time ends.
hopefully i have done my part to train others to take over because the end goal is never my fame or my prestige it's that this dharma these bhajans will live on and with or without me that will happen how have bhajans shaped you as a person Hmm. In incredible ways, I guess.
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Chapter 8: How can bhajans maintain their essence while appealing to younger audiences?
What triggered that switch?
I think one part is maturity, like just growing up and realizing that I have a choice. My parents didn't force me to go to temple and then realizing I would still rather choose to go with them rather than stay home. So that was one aspect.
The other aspect, and I think this happens to a lot of people living abroad, you're so stranded in this foreign world of people who don't look like you, who don't practice the same faith as you, and you search for something that will ground you and tie you to something bigger than yourself.
So that's why a lot of my generation comes back to religion as they get older, because they want something that defines them or that explains who they are. So that happened to me too when I was in end of high school university. And I'm like, why am I searching for all of the answers outside when I have everything I need right with me? And that kind of pushed me back on the path towards my dharma.
For Gauri, bhajans are tied closely to religion or dharma. Bhavik, who identifies as spiritual rather than religious, also sees them as part of a longer tradition, one that can be reversioned for a new generation.
Six, seven years ago, when we started doing these bhajan concerts, and by bhajan concerts I mean ticketed events, one which isn't a normal thing for bhajans. People at the time weren't used to having a ticketed event, but we've changed that mindset. But back then we were seeing grandparents and parents attend. And they would force or bring along their children or grandchildren.
And the most incredible thing I think we've achieved is now six years on, the children are coming and they're bringing their grandparents. And they're saying, hey, granddad, bapuji, ba, you used to sing this bhajan to me. I didn't know what it meant. Now I know what it means. And that connection is so much more special.
As much as Gauri welcomes this global trend, she's also conscious of how devotional Hindu songs can be diluted in a commercial world.
I mean, with bhajan jamming, I can see bhajans just growing bigger and bigger. There's always that risk of polluting, lowering the standard of the bhajans. And I think that's the risk with everything. Even when bhajan jamming first came out, there were a lot of people who said, oh, this is heresy, you know, bhajans are pure, they should not be associated with bhajan clubbing or jamming.
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