Rabindrajayanti celebrations at Central Park were slightly toned down this year, especially in the morning. Though some 100 people turned up for the inauguration at 6am, the enthusiasm waned as the sun glared its way to noon. So much so that the morning shift was wrapped up at 12.15pm, a very early hour for the bustling venue.
Sabyasachi Dutta, chairman of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, lit the inaugural lamp and welcomed all. “I am glad to see people come together to celebrate Rabindra jayanti like every year,” he said. “The ambience at Central Park is one of the best in the city. This show organised by Bidhannagar Sanskriti Angan started in 1998 and the biggest Rabindra sangeet artistes in Bengal have performed here at some point in their careers,” said Dutta.
Some memorable performances of the day were Sriradha Bandopadhyay’s Ebar amay dakle durey, Rina Mukhopadhyay’s Tomar hothat haway, Apala Basu Sen’s Ondho jane deho alo... Elocutionist Satinath Mukhopadhyay recited Jaabar diney ei kathati, Debasis Roychaudhury recited Goli and his wife Arunita Roychaudhury enthralled the audience with Ekti Chauni.
But many regular visitors were missing from the venue, whether due to anxiety about the war, the heat at the non-AC venue, or because a section of Bengalis had moved out of the township.
“I came in the morning when the sun wasn’t too harsh but by 9am it grew uncomfortable. My in-laws couldn’t come at all due to the heat,” said Shampa Bhattacharya, a resident of BK Block.
Evening show
The evening, being cooler, had a better crowd. “Earlier I used to come to Central Park with my friends after morning walks but it gets so hot these days that I come in the evening,” said Sujata Bose of DL Block.
In the evening too, a long list of artists performed, including Lopamudra Mitra, Monomoy Bhattacharya, and Sounak Chattopadhyay. “We perform at many events around the year but Rabindra jayanti is always special,” said Mitra, after singing Sonar horin chai.
The audience felt a connection with the day too. “I have never been able to visit Jorasanko Thakurbari on Rabindra jayanti but I come here,” said Gargi Sen of FE Block. “Tagore is an emotion for Bengalis and we want to spend this day remembering his works.”
Asit De of Karunamoyee said he prefers this venue over others. “There are many events happening today but this is the oldest one in Salt Lake and I enjoy the open environment. Watching the shows at home on TV is no match for this,” he said.
Abhijit Sen, in fact, said he prefers the non-AC ambience, “as this is our tradition and it provides an authentic experience. Also, the music can be heard far and wide, even from houses of people who cannot come down in person,” said the BG Block resident. “Besides, Tagore too liked activities under the open sky.”
Artiste tussle
President of Bidhannagar Sanskriti Angan, Sujit Kumar Pal, said over 100 artistes performed this year. “I am 71 now and have been associated with this event from the beginning. Today 106 artistes will be performing, divided between the morning and evening shifts. But due to the political turmoil in Bangladesh, we decided not to invite any artistes from across the border this year.”
Ritesh Basak, the secretary, said their greatest challenge was co-ordinating all the artistes simultaneously. “Every artiste wants to take stage as soon as they arrive. Each one has an ego and no one likes to wait for others to finish. This leads to problems in the green room. I understand they all have to head to several venues on the day, but some respect for colleagues helps create a healthy ambience. I would request all artistes to keep this in mind in future,” he said.