"Tear down the mosque, the temple, everything in sight"

World over, Indian movies are seen as a song and dance routine. Almost every Indian movie is termed as a "musical", whereas in Hollywood, "musical" is a separate genre, where the story is principally narrated though songs. In India, songs are juxtaposed into the movie, inconsiderate of whether they are in tune with the narration or not.

Recently, one of the sure-shot recipe of a song to be a super-hit, is to blend it with a Sufi lore. Remember, Shah Rukh Khan on a train roof calling to "Chaiyya Chaiyya", or Aishwarya-Abhishek crooning "Ranjha Ranjha" under a waterfall in Raavan. Rabbi Shergil became an instant singing sensation after his "Bulla ki jaana main kaun". "Damadam Mast Kalandar" and "Tera Ishq Nachaya" are eternal hits.

All things common in the above sufi songs, is that they are the penned by the great Punjabi humanist, philosopher and poet, Bulleh Shah. Born into a very religious family in 1680 in Bhawalpur, Punjab, which is now in Pakistan, his father was a preacher in a mosque and his family had a long association with Sufis. In general terms, Sufis are preachers of Islam, whose main objective is to disseminate the teachings of Prophet Mohammad. Even though, Islam somewhat has been spread through violent means, the fact that it is the second most popular religion of the world, is mainly due to the message of brotherhood and equality propagated by many great Sufi saints. Hazrat Baba Bulleh Shah is prominent among them.

After receiving his traditional education, Bulleh Shah became a murshid (disciple) of a famous spiritual teacher Shah Inayat Qadri, who guided him towards spiritual awakening, from which he spent his whole life in search of true self-realisation. He followed the Sufi patron of Punjabi poetry founded by some of his predecessors, but later made it a Punjabi-Sindhi blend. The simplicity in his works and preachings about fundamentals of living makes him all the more famous, even among Sikh gurus.

In his poetry, he raises voice against orthodox rituals of Islam and preaches to common people to get rid of egos and be fearless of social protocols, if they wish to meet God. His time was marked with communal riots between Muslims and Sikhs, but he was a beacon of hope and peace among all Punjab. His denounce of murder of Sikhs was censured by the mullahs and muftis at that time. Bulleh Shah also hailed the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur as a "Ghazi", or religious warrior, thus making him controversial among Muslims at that time.   

His poems have been put into music from humble street-singers to renowned Sufi singers like Abida Parveen, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Waddali Brothers and Hans Raj Hans, from the synthesized techno qawwali remixes of UK-based Asian artists to the rock band Junoon and music producer, Ram Sampath.

Bulleh Shah died in 1757. It is a bitter truth that after his death, Bulleh Shah was denied burial in community graveyard of Muslims my mullahs because of his unorthodox views. Today, the tomb of Bulleh Shah in Kasur, Pakistan has become a revered place of worship. At his "mazaar" there remains a tradition of blowing coonch (shankh). People gather there and render his poems in qawwali forms, and dance like darvesh traditions, with some even tying ghungroos in their legs. The orthodoxy of Islamic rituals all missing in Bulleh Shah tomb, even though it is in the centre of orthodox Pakistan. Such is the power of his message still lingering on.