It’s the baul culture of Birbhum district, however, that made this student of anthropology stay back. “I was deeply inspired by Ray’s films. I wanted to know about Bengali culture. When I came to India, I realised that religion was an important part of everyday life. Everyone asked me about my religion and caste. Only the baul culture made no such discrimination,” she said.

Her stint at Santiniketan further familiarised her with the baul. “Initially, I thought about studying this culture for a year or so. But clearly my attachment to it was deeper,” she added.

So, Hiroko decided to adapt the baul way of living and stayed in on India. Today, she is a disciple of baul exponent Haripada Goswami and goes by the name Haridasi.

“I realised that baul music is a great leveller. It talks about the most complex issues in the simplest of manner. That is what drew me to it,” said Hiroko who was in the city to perform at the Baul Utsav in Mohor Kunj.

At present, Hiroko lives in Bankura’s Nabasan ashram and has married Satyananda Das, another baul exponent. Her everyday chores include preparing food for fellow ashramites and keeping the ashram premises clean. “We lead a very simple life and share the chores. We follow a vegetarian diet and don’t even have onion and garlic in our meals. We are, however, allowed to consume fish,” she said.