Praful Dave

Gurjar Prabhaat (A morning in Gujarat)

This is the first of two albums performed by the renowned Gujarati folk singer, Praful Dave. These albums convey the atmosphere, the folklore, the traditions, in fact, the way of life in the villages of Saurashtra and North Gujarat. Not unlike Rajasthan, these parts are also colourful, with rich ancient heritage, tradition and a life-style, much of which is being diluted away in the urban world of towns and cities. This album evokes the rural life from the early hours of dawn, depicting musically and lyrically the (sequence of) events associated with the mornings. Early morning prayers and songs associated with day-break are evocative of the farm-folk preparing to go to the fields, the woman-folk working on a hand operated mill to produce flour, of churning butter-milk to produce butter, and so on.