Love for Lalon brings Frenchwoman to Kushtia

A Frenchwoman named Deborah Cukirman has transformed herself into a devotee of mystic legend Lalon Fakir and started living in Daulatpur, Kushtia.

Deborah, a good translator and a former French Yoga teacher, is known as Deborah Zannat.

She came to Bangladesh in February, 2016 for researching the life and philosophy of the Baul king, Fakir Lalon Shah, and got intrigued by the life of Lalon Shah.

Deborah has since returned to France but failed to stay there and returned to Bangladesh. Now she has got serenity here and started to live here. She also took the discipleship of renowned Baul Fakir Nahir Shaha.

During a visit to the Lalon Shah shrine at Chheuria in Kumarkhali upazila, this correspondent saw Deborah with other devotees of Lalon as a three-day Lalon Festival, to commemorate the 128th death anniversary of Lalon, is going on there.

Deborah said, "I have come here for researching the life of the philosophy of Fakir Lalon Shah in 2016 and I fell in love with the philosophy of Lalon Saiji. At first I did not know how to speak Bengali but without knowing Bengali language I started to live under the guardianship of my guru."

Deborah got married to Rajon, a pupil of Nahir Shaha few days ago as per the directives of the guru.

Fakir Nahir Shaha, said "Deborah came to Bangladesh two years back and I know her through a journalist. We had a discussion over Lalon philosophy and she expressed solidarity with the philosophy of Lalon. I have told her to learn Bangali and after that I started to give her lesson about Lalon philosophy."

Earlier, a three-day Lalon festival kicked off at Lalon Akhra of Cheuria village of the district in memory of legendry mystic bard Baul king Lalon Shah on Tuesday.

Lalon Shah was a baul, mystic, songwriter, social reformer and secular thinker. He has become an icon of religious tolerance and secularism in Bengali culture.