As the sun descended, and the warm day gave way to a fresh-breezed evening, our small group folded ourselves down on cloth mats in a open-sided hut fashioned of bamboo.  We had come to share music with bauls from Joydev Kenduli.

We had met the two brothers taking the lead on the visit, Sudhu and Kangal Das, earlier in our trip when they participated in the Sur Jahan festival in Kolkata.  I had instantly liked them — because they are infinitely likable, resembling two colorfully dressed teddy bears who smile a lot and sing like angels.  So, here we were in their village, listening to spiritual songs accompanied by stringed instruments, drums, and bells.

The approach to this peaceful oasis had come through a wave of choking dust kicked up along the wide dry river bed by what seemed like a never-ending sea of trucks.  I recall thinking that this could not possibly be the home of the bauls, whose music is joyous and meditative.  But, here we were, a short distance from the town, overlooking that same river bed from a whole different perspective.

Notice I said “sharing music” because despite the fact that most of our US-based group were self-professed non-musicians, we had been asked to sing an American song.  I was, not so secretly, dreading this part of the evening, but I was the one who came up with the song that we should sing.  Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land fit the mood somehow, evoking landscape and espousing freedom, although with typical Guthrie irony.  None of us could remember more than the first two of the seven verses, but we all joined in bravely and the bauls took over with the instrumentals once they caught the melody.

I wanted that evening to go on forever, despite the fact that I was hungry and I really had to go to the bathroom.  Bodily needs could wait while the music floated on the air and we sat, swaying to the hypnotic songs and strings.  But we finally had to unfold ourselves and walk by cell phone flashlight back toward the harsh glare of the main road.  But, writing this weeks later, I feel as though a tiny piece of that evening lodged comfortably in my heart and will hopefully remain there for good.