The birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore sets Kolkata abuzz for an entire fortnight. Meena Banerjee
New Generation Singers of the Indo Occidental Symbiosis of Mumbai performing in Kolkata
He had been there – all along; but only as a treasured topic for the erudite scholars who studied Rabindranath Tagore as a poet or a musician, novelist, composer, philosopher, playwright, artist, thespian, connoisseur of dance forms or a social reformer. They knew him as a great humanitarian who played a key role in the cultural renaissance of India or as a patriot who created history by refusing knighthood in protest against the massacre in Jalianwala Bagh. It was
the widespread birth centenary year celebration of the first Asian Nobel laureate in 1961 that brought him close to the hearts of the masses.
That was the time when AIR Calcutta’s Sunday morning classes of Rabindra Sangeet, conducted by its revered exponent Pankaj Mullick, gained tremendous popularity outside Bengal. Hemant Kumar, the popular singer-composer belonging to the golden era of film music, contributed his own bit by singing at least one Tagore number in each of his numerous public performances. The infinite variety of these lyrics in ‘Geetobitaan’ made it an indispensable item for every educated Bengali household, and a melodic treasure trove of rich literary quotes, poems or dialogues became easily accessible at the drop of one’s hat.
Pochishe Baishakh
Though the birthday of Gurudev is celebrated all over the world as Pochishe Baishakh (twenty-fifth day of Baishakh), Bengal ’s Kobi-Pokkho, literally meaning ‘the bard’s fortnight’, stretches well beyond a month now. As is the practice, ‘Prabhat-phri’-s organised at various nerve centres of Kolkata mark the beginning of the annual celebration. The entire Rabindra Sangeet fraternity makes it a point to be present at these points with invocation songs on their lips. The reverence, devotion and fervour with which the event is treated here is something to be experienced.
This year was no different. Rabindra Bharati University, better known as the Jorasanko Thakur-bari, the birthplace of Tagore, had a packed daylong programme. Shankarlal Bhattacharya’s scholarly analysis of the Tagorean oeuvre was the evening’s main attraction at one of the venues there.
New generation
But like the cool breeze ahead of rains, the footfalls of the big event were clearly audible prior to D-day. One such event at Kala Mandir was offered by Indo Occidental Symbiosis of Mumbai.
Their handpicked ‘Panch-Kanya’, representing the new generation of Rabindra Sangeet exponents, included Sraboni Sen, Razwana Choudhry Bannya, Lopamudra Mitra, Pubali Debnath (Mukherjee) and Debarati Shome.
Both Sen and Mitra delighted with their renderings steeped in melody. Replete with crystal clear enunciation, their pure, powerful voice-throw made each composition pulsate with emotion. Sen was at her soothing best in “Chhaya ghonayichhe”. Bannya’s preference for classical based numbers was duly justified, though “Sarthako janmo” could do without the heavy oscillation.
Debnath, though pleasing otherwise, faltered while infusing unwarranted vigour in “Pinakete lage tankar”. Shome struggled to keep up with the cadence of her songs.
Monideepa Sen’s solo evening at Kala Kunj exhibited the same stimulating, innate, intimate style as envisaged and popularised by veteran Sumitra Sen and followed by her daughter Sraboni Sen now, who groomed the young debutante.
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