Celebrating Rabindranath on a grand scale
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
On the day revellers were preparing for the 31st night, a completely different type of celebration came to its grand conclusion. That celebration befittingly titled in Bangla "Rabindrotsab" (commemorating Rabindranath Tagore marking the poet's sesquicentennial) had for followers of the poet a sumptuous feast of programmes presented by more than a thousand singers, musicians, dancers, recitationists and choreographers of Bangladesh and a number of other countries. The programmes also included documentaries and short films on Tagore. Apart from such cultural programmes, a series of seminars participated by renowned academics and researchers including Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, were arranged to make the commemoration a truly comprehensive one.
A musical soiree by 1,000 singers, unprecedented here, might have gone into the record book. Hats off to Rezwana Chowdhury Banya whose brainchild this tribute to Rabindranath is. She has accomplished an event even the event managers of today consider a dream come true. At Banya's invitation artistes from all around the globe -from no fewer than 17 countries took the trouble to join the gala occasion. What is so enlightening is that these devoted Tagore-lovers are practising songs and dance in foreign climes against overwhelming odds. They are also experimenting with fusion music and one such demonstration stole the heart of the audience on the second day of the three-day festival.
What is heartening is that people -not just old and educated people but youths -have amply proved how relevant Rabindranath is in their lives. Leave alone those who breathe in the premier poet of Bangla language, there are young people who thronged in their scores to enjoy the rendition of Rabindra sangeet, performance of dance, dance drama, recitation and even the academic deliberations at the seminars. It is the most positive thing to happen on the occasion of the poet's sesquicentenary. Reinventing Tagore, the young people can indeed come to realise the need for going back to their roots first.
Tagore's nationalism was not parochial. His love for the soil taught him to be a man of the world on the basis of human values. No one else other than today's youths need to be imbibed more with this spirit. It is absolutely necessary to know the land of one's birth first and then try to become a person on the international stage. There is no point blindly following what others do.
A musical soiree by 1,000 singers, unprecedented here, might have gone into the record book. Hats off to Rezwana Chowdhury Banya whose brainchild this tribute to Rabindranath is. She has accomplished an event even the event managers of today consider a dream come true. At Banya's invitation artistes from all around the globe -from no fewer than 17 countries took the trouble to join the gala occasion. What is so enlightening is that these devoted Tagore-lovers are practising songs and dance in foreign climes against overwhelming odds. They are also experimenting with fusion music and one such demonstration stole the heart of the audience on the second day of the three-day festival.
What is heartening is that people -not just old and educated people but youths -have amply proved how relevant Rabindranath is in their lives. Leave alone those who breathe in the premier poet of Bangla language, there are young people who thronged in their scores to enjoy the rendition of Rabindra sangeet, performance of dance, dance drama, recitation and even the academic deliberations at the seminars. It is the most positive thing to happen on the occasion of the poet's sesquicentenary. Reinventing Tagore, the young people can indeed come to realise the need for going back to their roots first.
Tagore's nationalism was not parochial. His love for the soil taught him to be a man of the world on the basis of human values. No one else other than today's youths need to be imbibed more with this spirit. It is absolutely necessary to know the land of one's birth first and then try to become a person on the international stage. There is no point blindly following what others do.