Rabindra Tirtha curator Anup Motilal shows books to Bangladesh deputy high commissioner Abida Islam as Hidco chairman Debashis Sen (in blue) and Asoke Kumar Roy, who had supplied most of the books, look on. Picture by Mayukh Sengupta

An exhibition of little magazines featuring articles on Tagore had been showcased recently at New Town’s Rabindra Tirtha.

The exhibition featured 400 post-Independence issues of little magazines where the bard has been written about and was inaugurated on Rabindra Jayanti by deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh Abida Islam.

Visitors browsed editions of periodicals like Parichay, Sabujpatra and Pashchim Banga Patrika and read about the life and times of Tagore. Many had articles written by eminent personalities. “We have a 1938 edition of Katha Sahitya that was released on the 100th birthday of Tagore, an edition of Parichay, edited by author Sudhindranath Dutta, and the first edition of Jigyasa, published in 1988 and edited by literary critic Sibnarayan Ray,” said Basudev Mosel, who was overseeing the exhibition.

Uttarsuri, Visva Bharati Patrika and Sahitya Sanskriti were all on display. The only issue in English was a hard-bound 1941 edition of The Calcutta Gazette. Originally priced at Re 1, it was a Tagore Memorial Special Supplement with lots of photographs and articles by and on Tagore.

“Being a Bengali I have been brought up on a diet of Tagore songs and poems and this exhibition is proof that the bard has influenced so many generations before us too,” said Ruma Singh Pyne, browsing an issue of Raghavendranath Mukherjee’s publication Shayam Durba.

Most of the books had come from Asoke Kumar Roy, a 74-year-old resident of Sinthi More, who has converted his house into a library. “I have over 40,000 books and 18,000 periodicals including some from the 19th century. It is a free library where all are welcome. I just want to spread knowledge and am glad to have been able to contribute to this exhibition,” said Roy.

Rabindra Jayanti was first celebrated at Rabindra Titha last year with residents of the township taking stage. “This time we invited residents to perform on Poila Baisakh and brought in professionals for Pochishe Baisakh. But we wanted to retain a literary angle as that is always a huge draw here,” said a spokesperson for Rabindra Tirtha, adding that a 10-day fair of Tagore books held last year did business of around Rs 8 lakh.