Duration: 90 minutes
Suitable for ages 12+
Performed by: Vipul Rikhi

Explore the poetry of the great 18th century Sindhi Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, through storytelling, translations and songs. Vipul Rikhi shares these stories along with interpretations of their deep significance for Latif. There will be translations of the poetry in English and, most importantly, songs of Latif in the kaafi form, which are part of the oral folk traditions of Kutch, Gujarat.

Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai was a great 18th century Sufi poet who, without exaggeration, can be called the Voice of Sindh. His poetry draws on the power and beauty of Sufi as well as Yogic thought, melding the two philosophies into one poetic and spiritual vision. His major work is the “Shah Jo Risalo” and his poems thrive today as a vibrant oral tradition being widely sung, quoted and loved by both Hindu and Muslim communities in the Sindh and Kutch regions on both sides of the Indo-Pak border.

In a world where women voices were unheard of, Latif took popular love legends of the region and spoke through the voices of different woman protagonists, to weave a web of poetry that plays tantalizingly between the levels of ishq-e-majaazi, worldly love and ishq-e-haqeeqi, spiritual love.