CB Block
Rabindrajayanti at CB Block was held on May 15 amidst a gentle breeze and a drizzle. 

The evening began with a scripted musical piece on Tagore’s letters, starring more than 10 residents. “Some of us recited portions of Tagore’s letters while the rest sang songs on the corresponding moods,” said Anusri Bhattacharjee, who did both. There were other orators like Diptendu Banerjee and Debjani Roy and singers like Rita Majumdar, Mritika Dutta and Swapna Saha. The script was compiled by Souvik Dutta, husband of another singer Indrani Dutta, and the group performed songs such as Akash bhora surja tara, Khela khela sara bela and Kon puraton praner taney.

There was recitation as well as dance. Grandma Vaswati Chakrabarti had a ear-to-ear smile on her face before the children’s dances began. “Both my granddaughters are performing today. One lives in CB Block with me and another is visiting from Bangalore,” she beamed as the kids ran backstage from CB 84, opposite the hall. 

This address served as the de facto green room as well as the rehearsal room for the dancers over the last few weeks. Moumita Saha, who lives there, had choreographed the dances for the 20-odd children while her mother Minakshi Mitra had spent all afternoon weaving Marigolds into garlands and bracelets for the girls’ costumes. 

“We shall be dancing to songs like Amra shobai raja and Amra notun jouban,” beamed little dancers Trinayanee Saha and twins Tapur and Tupur Mandal. “With my daughters’ vacations having started, I was more than happy to watch them gainfully occupied with rehearsals,” said a mother, Debjani Bhattacharyya. 

Block secretary Nishit Chakraborty said that this was the block’s 38th Rabindrajayanti while treasurer Pawan Sharma added that the event had become like a festival for them. “Not just today but the weeks preceding the day spent in rehearsals bring the residents closer to one another,” he said.

Purbachal 
Rabindrajayanti at Purbachal saw performances by several renowned artistes who dropped by despite their busy schedules for the day. 

“This is my second programme and I have seven more lined up,” smiled singer Srikumar Chatterjee before taking the stage. “I don’t really plan things beforehand so I shall choose my songs in accordance with the audience mood.” 

Sahila Panja, a singer from DL Block, said she tried to present uncommon songs. “Tagore has written over 5,000 songs but only 20 to 25 of them are recycled in most places. I like to present rare songs to my audience,” she said. 

The audience may have complained about the heat but not the artistes. “Air-conditioned comfort is always preferred but even more important is a good audience,” smiled Shreya Guha Thakurta, before singing Ananda dhara. Her mother Sashwati Guha Thakurtha echoed her. “In my early years on stage, there was no AC but audience appreciation made up for the physical discomfort,” she said. 

The audience was eager to tune into the show. “All my friends in the neighbourhood would be coming today,” said Purnima Chatterjee, a 69-year-old resident of Cluster IX who had turned up right after breakfast at 8.30. “The ones who come earlier have been asked to reserve seats for the rest.”

Ruchira Dutta was relieved that Rabindrajayanti was on a Sunday this year. “My husband doesn’t have office today, so I need not rush home. My daughter is interested in cultural programmes so I brought her along,” she said. 

One of the organisers, Mita Chatterjee, said that this was the 23rd year of Rabindrajayanti celebration at Purbachal and local councillor Minu Chakraborty said she was focussing on the event  (that took place before the election results were declared) without worrying about the polls. “The results are in people’s hands. We will continue with our work,” she said. “Organising such events is a privilege as it gives us a chance to familiarise the younger generation with our culture.”

Arundhati Biswas
 

Laughing Centre, FE Park
“Ashun, hashun, shustho thakhun” is the motto of Salt Lake Laughing Centre FE Block and on May 28 they found another occasion to be happy about — the joint birth anniversary celebration of Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. 

The 20-year-old group has close to 50 members and they met up at FE Park to sing and recite together. “Nowadays people only celebrate the dates but they are forgetting who these people really were, and what their contribution towards the nation was,” said Debraj Sengupta, a member from FE Block who recited a piece from Gitanjali in English and later sang the original — Koto ojanare janaile tumi — in Bengali.

“We are like a family and these occasions give us reason to keep ourselves busy,” said Chandra Shekhar Dey, known as the captain of the group. He paid his tribute to Nazrul by presenting an audio drama titled Kaloyati Kosrot.

Members shared why they could not live without the two poets and performed scripted music pieces and recitation. There was instrumental music as well with Dipali Sengupta and Jhunu Saha playing songs on the guitar. “I had given up playing but started playing the guitar again after joining this group. I enjoyed the last seven days of rehearsals,” said Saha, a resident of EE Block.

“This club has given us a platform to perform on, which we don’t otherwise get. These occasions keep us busy and by laughing we keep ourselves young,” said Sujit Biswas, vice-president of the laughing centre.

The event concluded with Swapon Chatterjee’s rendition of the song Nityo tomar je phool phote. “I was unable to come for the past few days, but I couldn’t miss today,” he smiled.  

Shatadipa Bhattacharya
 

AE (Part II)
AE Block Samaj Kalyan Sangha chose their Rabindrajayanti celebration to felicitate many an achiever in their midst.  

First up were students of the block who had excelled in their Board exams — not this year but in 2015. Atrayee Chowdhury and Aditi Paul both had scored above 95 per cent in their ICSE exams last year and are now busy in Class XI. “This is definitely a recognition,” said Atrayee, who was happy to be felicitated among people she has grown up with. Oindrilla Sanyal, another student, who is now preparing for medical entrance tests said: “It’s been over a year now, but still I feel excited. It is the reward for all my hard work,” she smiled. 

The certificates and mementos were presented by Sujit Bose, who himself has recently been re-elected as the local MLA. “Every year we felicitate meritorious students, so this event was long due,” said secretary of the body Tapas Sengupta, adding that he hoped to felicitate this year’s students soon.

Residents above the age of 75 years were also honoured. “We share a cordial relation with others in the block and it feels good to receive this recognition,” said J.C. Maitra, 90, who was one of the awardees. He also recalled an incident when he had had the opportunity of meeting former chief minister and founder of Salt Lake Bidhan Chandra Ray.  

The rest of the evening was spent remembering Tagore through recitation and songs performed by residents. 

Shatadipa Bhattacharya
 

CG Block 
The celebrations at CG Block started early in the morning. The hall was decorated and guests were welcomed with a rose, a tika and a warm smile. 

Soon a group of ladies, dressed identically in a combination of red, off-white and green saris, began with a chorus. “I have recently moved to Salt Lake from Malda and so this is the first time that I am singing with this group,” said Shreetapa Chakraborty, a student of Bethune College. 

There were several other performers, such as singer Samit Kar, Suranjan Ray and Ranjini Mukherjee, who is a student of Ray’s. Despite suffering from a cold Mukherjee crooned along. The audience comprised mostly elderly residents. 

Shrija Bose