Questions

1. Which is the first dance drama written by the poet?

2. Valmiki Pratibha was first staged at the poet’s ancestral home at Jorasanko. Who played the role of Valmiki?

3. Tasher Desh is based on the poet’s own short story. Name the story.

4. To which great leader of Bengal did Rabindranath dedicate his dance drama Tasher Desh?

5. The Tasher Desh people followed very strict discipline. Who first tried to break out of this discipline?

6. People in Tasher Desh wore wooden anklets. Out of which wood were the anklets made?

7. In Valmiki Pratibha, the captain of the dacoits was a coward. He tried to hide himself behind a certain grove during a hunting expedition. Name the grove.

8. Chitrangada is one of Tagore’s most popular dance dramas. Chitrangada is a princess of which kingdom?

9. Chitrangada was brought up as a boy from her childhood. She learnt archery and other war-related skills, but was never conscious of her feminity. When she saw Arjuna, her heart was filled with love. Arjuna did not recognise her as a girl and refused her love. Hurt, Chitrangada prayed to a god and was blessed with beauty so as to mesmerise Arjuna. Who was this god?

10. In one dance drama, Tagore has described a unique marriage ceremony where the bride gets married to the bridegroom’s veena instead of the person. Which dance drama are we talking of?

11. Which goddess brought about the change in Valmiki from dacoit to poet-saint?

12. Phool bale dhanya ami, dhanya ami matir pare. (The flower says I am honoured to be on earth). Which dance drama is this?

13. Chandalika is the story of an untouchable girl, Prakriti. She lives with her mother in a corner of the village, nobody touched them or took food or water with them. Who first drank water from her hand and acknowledged her status in society?

14. Shyama was a beautiful court dancer. One day she saw the king’s men arrest a very handsome man and take him to court, on suspicion of theft of a precious necklace from the palace. This person Bajrasen was actually a businessman from afar, not a thief. Shyama fell in love with him at first sight. She requested the kotwal to keep him in jail for two days before he is executed. Shyama then approached her ardent teenage lover and told him about Bajrasen. The young man agreed to sacrifice his life for Shyama’s happiness and surrendered claiming to be the thief. What was his name?

15. The dance drama Shyama is an elaborated form of the poet’s poem from Katha-o-Kahini. Name the poem.

16. Ekdin …. phuler gandha andhakar ghare anlo anirbochoniyer ananda. (One day the aroma of …. flower brought inexplicable pleasure into the dark room) Name the flower and the dance drama.

17. Sourasena and Madhushree were musician and dancer in Indra’s court. One day, in Madhushree’s absence, Sourasen could not play the mridanga properly, which affected Urvashi’s dance. Indra’s wife Sachi was furious and cursed him to take birth on earth. Madhushree asked Indra for a similar fate in the same world. From their celestial abode, they took birth as prince of Gandhar and princess of Madra respectively. What were their names?

18. Shapmochan was first written as a small play. Later the poet added a few songs and transformed it into a dance drama. Name the play.

19. In which dance drama do characters like blind sage, sage’s son, little girl Leela and Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, make an appearance?

20. The dance drama Chandalika is based on untouchability, which was a prevalent social evil of the time. The heroine of the play, Prakriti belonged to which untouchable community?

 Answers

1. Valmiki Pratibha

2. The poet himself

3. Ekti Ashare Golpo

4. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

5. Haratani

6. Tamarind (Tamarindus indicus) 

7. Kochubon (Grove of Colocasia antiquorum) 

8. Manipur 9. Madana, the god of love 

10. Shapmochan 11. Saraswati 12. Chandalika 

13. Bhikshu Ananda 14. Uttiya 15. Porishodh 

16. Neem (Azadirachta indica) and Shapmochan 17. Aruneswar and Kamalika 18. Raja 

19. Kalmrigaya 20. Chandal

Captions: 1. Rabindranath Tagore acting in Bisarjan 

2. The cover of the first edition of Balmiki Pratibha 

3. Tagore as Balmiki 

4. Nandalal Bose’s poster for Tasher Desh 

Compiled by Shikul Bhattacharji, AK Block