Douglas Smith '09, Environmental Science

The Bauls of Bengal: A New Generation

What is an Environmental Science major doing in Calcutta, India, studying the musical traditions of an ancient religious sect known as the Bauls?

If you’re Douglas Smith, you’re making the most of your liberal arts education by combining a deep-seated interest in music with a keen eye for the environmental degradation problems of one of the most densely populated regions of the world.

Intrigued by the unique musical style of these well-known folk musicians, Smith set out on his Marshall scholarship to discover how one becomes a Baul. No one knows their precise origins, but it is commonly defined as a fusion of Hindu and Muslim religions with esoteric philosophies about the union of mind and body. Their primary form of worship is music, and their lyrics are the core spiritual practice:

The boat sways and the mind sways
We are all dancing on the waves
What is it that we all hope for as we float?
These brief meetings as we come and go is nothing but that
It is indefinite where we will go
We are all from difference places
And the way we will scatter we do not know

Attending festivals known as “melas,” Smith was able to sit and speak with some of the Bauls under their canvas tents, relying on translators for help. He first encountered them in the village of Santiniketan and found them to be friendly and open. “Not only are they very welcoming people, but they told me anyone can become a Baul,” he says. “If you want to, you just come, and you live with them, and you learn their music, and you are a Baul.”

Smith befriended one Baul, in particular, a man known as Kartic Das Baul and a member of what Smith sees as the newer generation of Bauls. “The younger generation is trying to achieve fame and gain money by performing. Spiritual practices aren’t at the forefront of their lives,” he says. “They’ve sort of lost the notion that it’s the wandering spiritual journey that is first and foremost.” Smith sees this generational shift among Bauls as something inevitable in a country that is modernizing so quickly.

Although Smith’s musical interests are what led him to India, the environmental scientist in him wasn’t absent during his stay there. “Being in a third world country and seeing the public health issues that were going on there, the degradation to the environment, really made me feel very good about my career direction,” he says.