Biography

  A renowned Baul (Bengali Folk) singer from Gushkara, Shantiniketan in West Bengal, Kartik Das Baul was initiated into the Baul community at the early age of 9. He first travelled abroad for the Festival of India in Washington DC in 1985.  Starting with the Other Festival in December 2001, in Chennai, Kartik collaborated with Oikyotaan and infused different forms of Baul music into their repertoire. Kartik was also an integral part of the presentation of Dehotawtto and Fakiri songs at the World Sacred Music Festival in Berlin in December, 2003. From working with respected music directors like A R Rahman (Mangal Pandey:The Rising), Debajyoti Mishra ( for a film based on a Tagore play ) and Tanvir Mukammal, to working with various global music organizations in US, Berlin and Japan for their festivals, Kartik Das Baul has a glorious experience. He is the main protagonist in the documentary film, ’Notun Projomner Baul’, or ‘The new generation Baul’, which is the culmination of his five years of work with Oikyotaan. A snatch of his singing can also be found in Mira Nair's award winning film "The Namesake". The Oikyotaan research platform is working towards organizing a grant to establish an Ashram for Kartik, which will serve as a database and networking centre for Baul music and its philosophy.