India and Japan are two different nations with deep intriguing similarities. Capturing the deep cultural connection between the two nations, Japanese filmmaker Sakurako Abe has made documentaries giving an insight about India and Japan. The filmmaker was recently in town for dialogue discussing the cultural ties of both the nations.The event hosted at the Rajasthan Adult Education Association’s auditorium witnessed guests engaging in a conversation exploring cultural, social, spiritual parallels and disparities. Abe, who has studied in Shanti Niketan and fluently speaks Hindi and Bengali, talked at length about her love for India’s rich heritage, which later culminated into documentary film featuring Parvathy Baul, from a lineage of wandering singing yogis, embodying the world of ‘spiritual practice’, which Japan and India have much in common with. Parvathy has been on the Baul path for almost 30 years. Talking to the audience, Abe said, “There is a closeness between the sadhana of Japanese traditions and traditional practitioners from Buddhism – and the Baul. In our small way, and through these exchanges, we are trying to arrive at the heart of the Japanese culture of spirituality.” Sakurako’s core intent of this film was to capture the transformation that has taken place in the life of Parvathy Baul, from being a young visual artist to renowned Baul practitioner who spreads the message of this ancient tradition across the globe.Abe further adds, “My aim is to delve one step deeper into the spiritual world of Baul, in the space of the deep Japanese traditions while capturing the mutual impact that might ignite from the meeting of a Baul from India with the Japanese traditions.”Taking the conversation further, Rajendra Bora, discussed about Radheyshyam Ramayan, a popular poetic and musical retelling of the epic Ramayana by religious storyteller Pandit Radheyshyam Kathavachak.
