Kabir the Weaver-Poet

by Madhavan

Illustrated short novel on a day in the life of Kabir, his beliefs, set in 15th Century Banaras. for older children and adults

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Shefali Ganesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kal Kare so aaj kar, Aaj kare so ab.

This doha of poet Kabir (and a few others) had been hammered into my school-girl head by my Hindi teacher. Later my mother would hammer in some more, spouting the dohas (couplets) at the most appropriate time of life. I realised as I grew up, my mother must have read more dohas than myself in school. Today my young son doesn’t know who Kabir was and so far does not have a doha in his textbooks. (this book was meant for my son, but till he reads it, I’ll claim hold over it!)

The question that came to my mind- has Kabir been forgotten? Is he still relevant? When I found this book by Jaya Madhavan, it came as a breath of fresh air and brought along heaps of doha-nostalgia.

The book takes us to fifteenth-century India, in Varanasi where lived a weaver called Kabir. The story is woven around a day in Kabir’s life, and my, what a happening, busy, exciting day he has. There are lots of conversations - Kabir talks with people, his loom and threads also speak! All this interspersed with Kabir’s dohas (with meaning).

Jaya Madhavan’s book has brought out Kabir’s beliefs in a beautifully woven story that not only keeps the reader hooked, but smile, cry and emote along with the characters of the story. Evocative and absorbing, all at once!

Detailed reviews on https://medium.com/@Shefali_Ganesh/ka...

[Samiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It tries to give some depth to what we know about Kabir, and given the nature of his philosophy, this isn't an easy task, much less if you're trying to do it for young adults. It's a great introduction and the narrative lures you into Kabir's world, opening it up for further exploration.

[Krishna Ramamoorthy]

this book literally came to me the day after Bindumalini’s concert at Kerehabba when I thought I should try to read more about Kabir. This book, written by her sister was lying on the table of a teacher’s room at school where I stayed the following night! And she sent me this saying read it!! This was more than 5 months back, but I read it recently. This is so nicely written so that you get a wonderful experience of Kabir, you are not just reading it. The story telling technique is unique, taking one day, maybe the most important day in Kabir’s life and travelling from dawn to dusk - the story told through the tools and materials used by Kabir as a weaver, using the couplets of his and then a few characters adding positivity to this script. I have often felt bad about not being able to experience poems and their beauty, I guess this is the closest I can get to that!

[Rs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi book review is on my blog http://roshnisubhash.wordpress.com/20...

[Prabhakar Kamaraj]

What a poetry books. I Love the moments I read the book. mesmerising. Got a chance to know little about Kabir. Salutes madam for you, Jayamadavan.

[Razi Shaikh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and subtle. Yet profound and poetic. Brought the mystic poet back to life!