Vipul Rikhi’s latest book Drunk on Love: The Life, Vision, and Songs of Kabir, has been masterfully conceived out of his hour-long musical performance by the same name. Laid out in ten core chapters, the book is a delightful journey through the life legends of the medieval nirguni bhakti poet Kabir, interspersed with his dohas (pithy couplets), songs, and the author’s interpretations.
For almost two decades now, poet, translator, storyteller, and singer Vipul Rikhi has been dedicatedly working in the field of the oral traditions of Kabir and other bhakti and Sufi poets of the Indian subcontinent. Two of his earlier publications were collaborative works with film-maker singer Shabnam Virmani—One Palace, a Thousand Doorways: Songlines through Bhakti, Sufi and Baul Oral Traditions (2019), and I See Myself: Journeys with Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (2019).