from the joydev mela to psychedelic pubs strains of the dotaraand beats of the dubkiare creating a common refrain baulmusic just like the bauls is travelling and howkhyapa ke jabi aye joydever melaye its six in the morning and kenduli presents a template of schizophrenia its biting cold but the holy dip in the ajay river is in full swing thousands are milling about local villagers rub shoulders with foreigners and theres the music maddening and raucous the kirtanias are at it drumming on their khols and chanting hare krishna loudspeakers blare songs of the soul promising divine bliss but at joydev mela the cradle of baul history and their biggest gathering the wandering minstrels themselves seem outnumbered the mela has been taken over by kirtanias only three out of 10 singers today are bauls everyone gathers here devout crowds drug peddlers vagrants pickpockets its impossible to sit at tamaltala now its been taken over by outsiders says kartik das baul whos travelled the world with baul music and has been coming to the mela for three decades we are sipping chai with the singer when talk turns to baul philosophy their sadhana kartik who calls himself a griha baul says i have to think of my childrens future i cant give up on my family the times are changing fast for the baul community the philosopherpoetsinger epitomized by someone like nabani khyapa the father of the legendary purna das baul is giving way to the performer this has raised questions about the authenticity of many donning the saffron attire so who is a true baul the mystic or the regular performer and what about baul sadhana which is based on dehatatva or the communitys secret sexual practises you can be an accountant and still be a baul says sadhak gourhari das in his akhra the idea is to remain focussed on sadhana while music is like formula to remember the maths as he sits there to discuss dehatatva all his disciples listen in rapt attention to unravel the mysteries of man and nature you need to devote four hours a day over 12 years i have heard in the cities men are faced with sexual problems post40 and thrive on tablets it can be dealt with easily through sambhog sadhana his disciple subal das says i am coming to the mela for 31 years now i have been singing mahajani pad from even before but so far i havent come out with a single cassette subal and others like him spend the year singing songs of the soil but isnt money a serious concern when i am singing i am not worried about anything else yes if someone likes the performance he gives money subal has sung in sonajhuri recently and the show earned him a lot of praise he is also aware that theres a good market for baul music in kolkata i have my wife and daughter to look