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Devotion Embodied in Song:
A Musical Story of Pious, Heretic and Mystical Poetess Meera Bai
Meera Bai was a poetess of exceptional caliber from the western Indian province of Rajasthan in the sixteenth century who revolutionized Indian poetry forever by writing poems on Lord Krishna as her lover instead of a God!
It all started when adolescent Meera Bai witnessed a marriage procession and asked “Who will be my bridegroom?” Her nanny playfully showed her a miniature idol of Krishna and said ‘Him!’ Thus began this Indian girl’s lifelong fascination with Krishna. What started as an innocent childhood fantasy, led to her fervent love of Lord Krishna. Meera’s obsession became the defining factor in her life, causing her to leave behind wealth and royalty and become a wandering mystic with a great following. Now, five centuries later, her poetry is well-known throughout India and celebrated worldwide.
The intriguing story of Meera Bai’s mystical, fascinating, and tragic existence, comes to life on Meera – The Lover, the debut album from Canadian-Indian singer Vandana Vishwas, whose own life story adds poignancy to the recording. Vandana’s musical exploration of Meera Bai’s life follows her poetry chronologically, with each poem representing a distinct moment in the emotional state of the spiritual leader.
Meera Bai’s songs have often been interpreted as Krishna bhajans – religious devotional songs in honor of Krishna. However, Vandana’s compositions emphasize the romantic side of Meera Bai, hence the title, Meera—The Lover…
Vandana’s connection with Meera began as early as her teenage years, when she was an All India Radio contract artist, and along with her mentor Mr. D.K. Gandhe, composed some of Meera Bai’s songs. Legendary Indian songbirds Lata Mangeshkar and Kishori Amonkar, who each beautifully sang Meera bhajans, also inspired her fascination with Meera Bai and gave her insight into romantic and expressive aspect of Meera Bai’s poetry.
Vandana symbolically represents each phase of Meera’s love towards Krishna by composing one song for each phase from her collection and treating them with an appropriate element from Indian classical music, to evoke respective emotions. Thus, Raag Des adorns the romantic rain song “Badara Re,” Raag Darbari emotes the declaration of love in the King’s courtroom in “Rana Ji,” and serene notes of Bhairav Thaat amplify detachment and longing in “Chala Wahee Des.” Each song tells a piece of the story from Meera Bai’s life, and the components of each song are important parts of the telling. For example, in Hindi artwork, Lord Krishna is often depicted as a cow herder, playing a flute which not only calls to the animals, but also to his thousands of gopis (milkmaids) who follow the sound of his flute from far away. Vandana uses the sound of the flute to represent the presence of Krishna. It further represents the longing for something which is simply out of reach, which Meera and other devotees can hear, but never see. Her use of modern instruments such as acoustical and bass Guitars with Strings gives the songs a contemporary feel.
CD Jacket Design Concept:
Blue background represents walls of houses in Rajasthan, the single stringed musical instrument Iktara represents Meera, the flute obviously represents Lord Krishna, the antiquated paper with devnagri script symbolises Meera’s poetry and the golden border symbolises Meera’s royal status as a queen.