A sparse gathering witnessed the unfurling of the Tricolour at FE Park as FE Block Residents’ Association celebrated the 73rd Republic Day in a brief ceremony. The programme commenced at 9am with president of the association Sushil Chowdhury doing the honours, followed by singing of the National Anthem.
Chowdhury, in his address, outlined the importance of the day. Block residents Falguni Das, Sangita Saha, Rita Sen and Dipali Roy presented patriotic songs in chorus like Utho go Bharatlakshmi, Bharat amar Bharatbarsha and E desh, e desh amar e desh.
“The longest constitution in the world came into effect in letter and spirit on this day,” block secretary Pallab Bhattacharya said. The year, he added, carried special significance since it was the 125th birth anniversary year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the 75th year of Independence. “That is why, despite passing through the third wave of the Covid pandemic, we wanted to mark the occasion and will continue to do so through a series of occasions like seminars and essay-writing competitions through the year,” he added.
Retired IAS officer S.A. Ahmed, the main speaker on the occasion who stays in the block, pointed out that the Constituent Assembly, which was elected to frame the Constitution, comprised many eminent persons like Rajendra Prasad, elected the president of the Assembly, B.R. Ambedkar, who headed the drafting committee, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel etc but few people are aware of the fact that in the committee one Sachchidanada Sinha played an important role as its eldest member. “The draft was passed and adopted on November 26, 1949 and after two months, i.e. on January 26, 1950 it came into effect and we became the largest democratic country in the world,” he said. Ahmed pointed out that so far the constitution has been amended 104 times for various reasons and the 105th amendment was made in October 2021.
Block resident Swapna Das recited her self-composed poem Ananyo Bharatbarsha, depicting the existing socio-economic scenario and her dream for an ideal India. Among others who spoke on the occasion were Pijush Kanti Majumder and Manash Ghosh, senior citizens of the block. Both emphasised on duties and responsibilities of citizens, asking them to follow principles and not misuse the privileges of a democracy.
Bharati Kanjilal
Elocutionist Shovansundar Bosu, who stays in Animikha Housing Complex, performed at Uttara Housing Society Prathama-Dwitiya along with his poetry band, Brishti. What he presented was aptly named “poetry with music”, blending Bengali literature, philosophy, art and culture. The poetic compositions performed by them included Bharattirtha by Rabindranath Tagore, Megh Balikar Jonyo by Joy Goswami and Keu Katha Rakheni by Sunil Gangopadhyay.
This was followed by the presentation Colours of Indian Music, by the musical troupe of Akash Dasgupta. They presented ’90s Bengali music, along with some modern-day favourites as well.
The evening presented residents with almost three hours of music and poetry.
Adrija Sadhu
If you want to get a programme featured in this column, write in to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta - 700001 or e-mail to saltlake@abp.in
