The 125th birth anniversary year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has been rung in with a calendar connecting the patriot with Kazi Nazrul Islam. An initiative of Chhayanat, the cultural group that organises Nazrul Jayanti at Nazrul Tirtha every year, the calendar has quotes of Bose on Nazrul and of other contemporary luminaries connecting the two of them.
The April page, for instance, has Netaji saying: “Many of us go to prison but we see little impact of life behind bars in literature. The reason is lack of perception. But that Nazrul had gone to prison the proof of that is there in many places in his writings. That makes him a real human… It is true that Nazul is called rebel poet. One can clearly make out that he is a rebel within. When we go to battle, Nazrul’s battle songs will be sung there as well. When we go to prison, there too we will sing his songs (translated from Bengali).”
Another page has Dilip Kumar Roy reminiscing how Nazrul would sing his lively songs with his head full of curly hair shaking. “Subhas was attracted on hearing him sing Durgam giri kantar moru. His fair countenance would get flushed... Subhas would always get moved on hearing Kazi recite Bidrohi.”
Netaji is himself quoted expressing his admiration in Biswanath Dey’s 1970 compilation titled Nazrul Smriti. “I travel across various states of India. I have had the fortune to listen to national songs in various regional languages. But I have never heard a song as lively as Durgam giri. The dream that Kazi Nazrul dreamt is not his alone, but of the entire community of Bengalis.”
“This year is both Netaji’s 125th birth centenary and centenary of the poem Bidrohi. At some point once Covid recedes, we hope to organise a programme on Netaji’s favourite Nazrul songs at Nazrul Tirtha,” said president of Chhayanat Somerita Mallik, who has handed over copies of the calendar to Netaji’s grandnephews Sugata and Sumantra Bose.
Theatre fest
A scene from the play Tanaporen staged at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan
Theatre group Saltlake Dekhashona hosted a two-day theatre festival at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan where they presented plays in collaboration with theatre groups Ballygange Bratyojan and Shristi Salkia.
The organisers had hope that the festival, which was held before the third wave, would be instrumental in bringing audiences back to watch live shows on stage. “I appreciate the effort made by Dekhashona to overcome the alienation created by the pandemic and try to bring us together,” said theatre personality Sanjib Sarkar at the inauguration.
The first play Ardhangini, directed by Bijoy Mukhopadhyay, was presented by Ballygange Bratyojan. Based on W. Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife, the play was about a lady who finds out that her husband is having an extramarital affair. She then works to become economically independent, sharing with the audience the message of women’s empowerment.
“After 2019, we have hardly been able to organise stage shows but we kept rehearsing. The experience of a stage show just cannot be transferred to a tiny cell phone screen,” said Bijoy Mukherjee, director, Ballygange Bratyajan.
On the second day show Saltlake Dekhashona presented the play Tanaporen and Shristi Salkia presented Dandapanir Danda. Both the plays were directed by Haraprasad Chakraborty. “Our group has been entertaining audiences for seven years now. This is an achievement made possible through the dedication of all our members,” said Chakraborty.
Sushanta Gupta, secretary, Saltlake Dekhashona, was highly satisfied with the response. “Since its inception, this group has presented some new production every year but that changed during the pandemic. But we continued rehearsals and our director inspired us to stage this live show,” he said.
The audience was delighted to watch the plays. Retired engineer Amal Sengupta came on both days from CF Block. “I am a theatre lover and thoroughly enjoyed all the plays. This is the first time since 2019 that I got to visit an auditorium,” he said.
Bharati Kanjilal
Music & plant care
A Bidhannagar Horticultural Society member recites at Gallery 67
A Vijaya Sammaleni witnessed music and recitation by members, but given that this was a meet by Bidhannagar Horticultural Society, there was also sapling distribution and tips on plant care.
Sunanda Ghosh of CF Block sang the Rabindrasangeet Hriday nandan bone and the Nazrulgeeti Amar kalo meyer payer talay. Anuradha Chowdhury hadn’t prepared a number but got so enthused by the atmosphere that she sang a song impromptu. BD Block’s Arnab Chandra turned out to be the only male singer when he performed some baul music.
Manjusri Dutta lightened the mood by narrating anecdotes of her first job interview in Shillong many decades ago and Ranjana Mitra recited self-composed poetry. “In these two years of pandemic-induced house arrest, I feel like I’ve aged 10 years,” she said, happy to be attending a live show.
Some then took stage to point out the harmful effects of chemical pesticide and insecticide. “Use boiled neem oil instead. That won’t kill but repel the pests,” said S.K. Das of HB Block. Achyut Ghosh added how insecticides harm bees. “I am a member of many associations in Salt Lake but this is the only one where I see young faces. It means the group has a bright future,” said the BC Block resident.
The event was held before the third wave at hotel Gallery 67, whose managing director Goutam Kumar Paul happens to be a member of the society. “Most of our members had wanted to come for this programme and the management here has taken great precautions to ensure their safety,” said secretary Arijit Poddar.
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