A scene from Anandamath staged by Kanikanjali

While everyone was celebrating Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary, a cultural group from Howrah, Kanikanjali, commemorated Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 175th birth anniversary. Although Bankim Mela is organised every year during the writer’s birth anniversary in June, solely to focus on the writer’s works. Other smaller groups are making an effort by themselves to remember the author on his 175th birth anniversary. Kanikanjali’s three-day long programme was held on March 24, 25 and 26 at Sarat Sadan. “We organised this programme with assistance from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India,” said Sudipta Mitra of Kanikanjali.

The programme was inaugurated on March 24 by mayor Rathin Chakraborty. The chief guest was the minister for agriculture marketing, Arup Roy. Through the three days, different works of Bankim Chandra were staged at Sarat Sadan by Kanikanjali and other cultural groups of Howrah. On March 24, a srutinatak based on Bankim’s Krishnakanter Will was presented by students of Kanikanjali.

Kashmira Samanta and her troupe, Nritya Upasana, staged a recent production, a dance drama based on Debi Choudhurani. A seminar based on Bankim Chandra’s relevance to students today was held on March 25 where the speakers were MLA and national teacher Brojomohan Majumdar and poet Ajit Bairy. Students from Salkia Mrigendra Dutta Smriti Balika Vidyalaya and Bodhodoy International School in central Howrah attended the seminar.

Dum Dum Crowd Theatre staged their play, Tirtha Fera based on Bankim Chandra’s Kapalkundala. The final day was slated for Anandamath that was staged by the students of Kanikanjali again. They also presented a srutinatak, Kamalakanter Daptar on that day. “We thought of drawing attention to Bankim Chandra’s works that are relevant even today and bring some awareness among children about his contributions to Indian history and literature,” said Mitra.