A journey in search of the 'des' (country) invoked in the poetry of the fifteenth-century mystic poet of North India--Kabir--this film interweaves the stories of two people from two very different countries, Indian folk singer Prahlad Tipanya and North American scholar Linda Hess. Where is Kabir's country? The answer is elusive, as we journey through song and poem into these two lives, brought together in an unlikely friendship by the cross-cultural resonance of Kabir.

Chalo Hamara Des

Kabir sang his poems in the market place, his spirituality firmly grounded in the public square. 600 years after his time, this 15th century Indian mystic poet’s legacy can be found in both spaces – sacred and secular. This film interweaves the deification of Kabir by a religious sect with his secular appropriation by a social activist group. The story unfolds through the life of Prahlad Tipanya, a Dalit singer whose participation in both domains begins to raise difficult questions for him about ritual and organized religion.