India, July 11 -- The Notbook of Kabir cannot be read. It needs to be heard - as music, poetry and protest that, far from raising its fist in the air, playfully sings and laughs its dissent. There's a song playlist at the end of the book that aurally transfers the poetry printed in two languages. The volume, among other things, becomes a tribute to folk musicians and singers of Kabir bhajans like Prahlad Singh Tipaniya, Mahesha Ram, Kaluram Bamaniya, Mukhtiyar Ali, Fariduddin Ayaz and Abu Mohammed, in whose voices these poems have been nurtured, within public consciousness and memory.

The Notbook of Kabir becomes a side dish in a feast featuring - not just music as main course, but also questions about caste, God, words, ragas, life, dea...