File picture of Tarun Chandra Kalita playing sarod during a recent programme in the city

Nov. 13: Music transcends all boundaries. This adage has come true once again with Borgeet, a traditional form of devotional song in Assam, comparing notes with sarod, the Indian version of Afganistan’s popular musical instrument rabab.

The brain behind this “musical fusion” is a motley group of city-based artistes who prefer to call themselves Creative Minds.

The musical melange will see city-based sarod player Tarun Chandra Kalita experimenting with Borgeet for connoisseurs in December. The others who have worked on the idea are film and theatre critic Utpal Dutta, radio jockey Aboni Bora and anchorperson Saswati Goswami.

“We are attempting to present something different which at the same time is also artistically superb. We, therefore, thought of bringing sarod and Borgeet together,” Dutta said.

Finance, however, has impeded the smooth implementation of this “unique” idea. “We’re looking for sponsors to translate our dreams into reality. We are creative people and can come up with ideas to match our talents, but we need financial support to host a show on a grand scale,” Dutta said.

The aim behind this novel fusion is to lend Borgeet, which is sung in every Assamese household and is as popular as kirtanor bhajan, a global ear.

“Sarod inspired us to popularise Borgeet. If the musical instrument, which originates from terror-ravaged Afghanistan, can be popularised throughout the world, why not soulful Borgeet? It is this inspiration which made us work upon the idea,” Dutta said.

Sarod, mostly associated with maestro Amjad Ali Khan, has its origins in rabab, which was used in the battlefields of Afghanistan to announce the beginning and end of war.

Rabab was brought to the Mughal court in India, where art and culture was immensely patronised, about 400 years ago by three musicians from Afghanistan. Sarod can be aptly called a modification of rabab to suit Indian sensibilities.

“Borgeet is not merely an invocation in the name of god. Over the ages, it has become a part and parcel of every Assamese household. So, we thought of popularising Borgeet across the world through the equally soulful sarod,” Kalita said.

The sarod player has created a few compositions that are beautifully fuse sarod and Borgeet.

Borgeet is generally sung without the help of any instrument, and that too mostly at naamghars, an Assamese prayer house.

The group is also planning to carry the fusion music to different parts of the country.

“If luck permits, we are planning to hold a concert of Borgeet and sarod in Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. But that is a distant dream,” Dutta said.

Kalita, a student of renowned sarod player Pandit Buddhadeb Dasgupta, participated in the prestigious Akash Bani Sangeet Sanmilan organised by the All India Radio recently. He has also scored background music for several Assamese films, including the national award-winning film Raag Birag by Bidyut Chakraborty.