He is a sadhu. And he rocks.
Draped in white dhoti, with sandalwood paste daubed on the forehead and long curly locks running down to his bare chest, he indeed looks like a picture-perfect monk. More so, when he performs a yagna or puja with his disciples in a secluded ashram.
And when the ascetic slings his guitar across his shoulders and croons Everybody young and old, come all ye to die in holy shrine, he turns into a rockster to set the stage afire.
Meet ‘Rocky Baba’ of Assam. Born as Ranbir Ingti in the state’s Karbi Anglong district, this 35-year-old is the region’s latest singing sensation. His first album Warklung was an instant hit among the region’s music-buffs.
Warklung is a Karbi word — the dialect of the tribe he belongs to — that means “Throw with a Big Bang”. It is a fusion of folk and devotional songs penned by Rocky Baba himself set in Western rock and pop music style. It is also the name of the popular band that he set up.
“It (the album) is an effort to understand and preach the power of infinite and to help hold his creation together, to nurture the love that grows in every human heart and to condemn terrorism that kills and maims millions worldwide,” says the maverick monk-musician, who mostly sings Karbi, Sanskrit and English numbers of his own music, blending folk and rock.
He himself has seen much violence around him. Karbi Anglong has been a hotbed of militancy and ethnic clashes since mid-1980s.
Rocky Baba was among the star attractions in the Roots Festival, which was held recently in Shillong, Guwahati and other North-Eastern cities, with bands and soloists — both locals and from Australia and the UK — performing rock, blues, reggae and funk in addition to traditional folk songs. He enthralled the audience by chanting the Gayatri Mantra with a guitar and a traditional flute.
His passion for music dates back to his childhood. Till mid-1990s, he was the lead vocalist of a local rock band, Dark Shadow. His spiritual journey began in 1998, when he meditated in a dark cave inside a jungle without food and water for three days. “The Almighty blessed me and I came out a completely different man,” recalls Ranbir. He re-christened himself as Phu Ningding and went on a pilgrimage to the holy places in the South.
“My spiritual pursuit would have incomplete without my music,” he adds. His soon to be released second album Iron Age, is also an effort to send out messages of peace and harmony. The title track focuses on the bloody ethnic clashes between the Karbis and Dimasas.
He also founded ‘Hemphu Baman Ahamphang’ or ‘Devotees of the God Society’ and set up an ashram “to preserve the indigenous faith — an offshoot of Hinduism — and culture of the Karbis”.
“One must save his faith and culture to safeguard his or her identity,” says Rocky Baba.