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Addressing a tutorial connected the English romantics, a prof concluded: “Read Tagore, I implore you, to recognize however dissimilar poets specified arsenic Shelley and Keats, helium did not conflict to reconcile imaginativeness and reality. This extremity stayed with those students of Jadavpur University, 1 of whom I get the anecdote from to embark connected this eminently rewarding but daunting endeavour to observe the poet-laureate’s philharmonic oeuvre connected his 165th birth anniversary, which was celebrated past week.
Bengalis raised successful Kolkata volition readily profess how Rabindranath Tagore has been cardinal to their formative years. He has been omnipresent successful schoolhouse texts, euphony connected the vigor and records astatine home, not to hide the compulsive tendency successful each of america to sing, recite and enact his offerings with aplomb — often without interest for glaring idiosyncratic limitations of trade and performance.
One of my earliest memories of Rabindra Sangeet is Hemanta Mukhopadhyay’s rendition of ‘Ogo nodi apon bege’, a opus of the stream arsenic a consenting chronicler of life’s galore turns crossed meadows and landscapes. Later on, songs of ‘Chandalika’, the dance-drama astir emotion pitted against societal ostracism, would play connected loop, gradually starring to timeless anthems specified arsenic ‘Dhono dhannay’, ‘More bina uthe kon shure baje’ successful schoolhouse and college. These experiences are by nary means exclusive. If anything, they are stereotypically ‘Bangalee’. Yet, these person been essential, a rite of transition that paves the mode towards superior taste and intelligence exploration of Tagore songs. For the invested euphony lover, it is simply a enactment successful advancement that opens doors, astatine times a full caller horizon, astatine each hearing.
Wherein lies the essence of Tagore’s music? Rabindra Sangeet offers the eventual synthesis of words, tones and melody, explains Reba Som in her exemplary book, The Singer and His Song. Unbelievable arsenic it whitethorn sound, Tagore has songs for each emotion. There is simply a opus for each season; he’s capable to archer the communicative of sunshine and rain, outpouring blooms and wintertime fog. And successful doing so, helium unveils ideas of love, faith, devotion and surrender, introducing america to elevated thoughts, astatine times with disarming simplicity.
Wherein lies the essence of Tagore’s music? Rabindra Sangeet offers the eventual synthesis of words, tones and melody, explains Reba Som in her exemplary book, The Singer and His Song. Unbelievable arsenic it whitethorn sound, Tagore has songs for each emotion. There is simply a opus for each season; he’s capable to archer the communicative of sunshine and rain, outpouring blooms and wintertime fog. And successful doing so, helium unveils ideas of love, faith, devotion and surrender, introducing america to elevated thoughts, astatine times with disarming simplicity.
“I cognize nary antheral successful my clip who has done thing successful the English connection to adjacent these lyrics,” said Irish writer W.B. Yeats, portion introducing immoderate of Tagore’s ain translations of his songs to a gathering of English intellectuals circa 1912. Events that followed are well-known. Gitanjali is published successful England the aforesaid year. Tagore wins the Nobel successful 1913 and is knighted 2 years later. By then, the occidental satellite has taken enactment of the eponymous genre of Rabindra Sangeet and his genius of mounting implicit 2,200 songs to his ain euphony successful the storied contented of the ‘lieder’ that encompasses poetic look successful an enduring philharmonic signifier to make a staggering ensemble of narratives, feelings and timeless commentary.
Debabrata ‘George’ Biswas, with his splendid baritone, articulates the cosmic wonderment of beingness successful ‘Aakash bhora surjo tara’. Kanika Bandopadhyay brings serenity done ‘Anandadhara bohichhe bhubane’, a opus of cosmopolitan truths, portion Ritu Guha offers solace successful ‘Eki labonye purno pran’, her tribute to the ‘Lord of Life.’
Suchitra Mitra celebrates state that lies successful the airy of the skies beyond the limitations of the assemblage and caput successful ‘Amar mukti aloye aloye’. Sagar Sen’s intimate ‘Aj jyotsnarate shobai gechhe bone’ captures the quiescent of a moonlit nighttime erstwhile “all person near and I chose to stay.” And Santideb Ghosh, with his ‘kirtani’ storytelling of Krishnakoli, evokes the representation of the acheronian colony miss who comes to beingness successful the plaintive alleviation of a flute.
Appreciation of Tagore whitethorn beryllium rooted successful the Bengali language, but helium is by nary means the sole sphere of Bengal. For, his euphony is simply a well-spring of bully thought, embodying each that is life. Filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak spoke of it with singular candour: “I cannot talk without Tagore… I person thing caller to say… successful the last analysis, you volition find helium has the past word.”
And if you are 1 of those inactive engaging with the question, ‘How person we forsaken who we were to go who we are now?, you whitethorn privation to crook to ‘Klanti amar khoma koro prabhu’ (Forgive maine my weariness, ohio Lord) and past perhaps, clasp continuum successful the finality of, ‘Achhe dukkho, achhe mrityu (there is sorrow, determination is death) particularly, Srikanta Acharya’s rendition, Reba Som’s translation of which goes similar this:
There is sorrow, determination is death…
Yet laughter the sun, satellite and stars
Spring arrives successful the bower successful varied colours
Waves merge into rising waves
Flowers scatter to blossom again
There is nary erosion, determination is nary end
There is nary hint of being impoverished,
It is astatine the feet of that plenitude
That my caput begs for space.
