A Bard’s devotion to his Muse What inspired the Bengal Bard to explore, create and express his myriad feelings and experiences in mellifluous words that flowed from his pen so spontaneously? The answers to Rabindranath Tagore life-long quest seem to come to him spontaneously, but if we look beyond his creations, they seem to be like the wail of a bruised soul. In his long, lonely sojourn, Tagore had but one friend, philosopher and guide: Kadambari Devi (Notun Bouthan) — his Muse, whom he fondly named Hecate. A lover of solitude, the Greek goddess Hecate was invisible, perhaps only glimpsed as a light, a “will-o-the-wisp.” Perhaps it was this luminous quality that marked Hecate as a “moon goddess,” and inspired Tagore to nickname her thus. However, her brief but intense attraction had completely taken over the adolescent poet’s entire being. Hence her death left him shattered and from here his other journey began. This was his metaphysical quest for the soul. The lady who had once inspired the young poet to write Vaishnav padavalis on Krishna and Radha’s eternal love now became his vehicle of expressing Radha’s pangs of separation from Krishna. His life-long devotion to something afar from the sphere of our sorrow became the leit motif of his entire gamut of creation, including his sketches and paintings. Janhabi presents an opera based on this theme. Conceived and compiled by Manoj Murali Nair and Madhuboni Chatterjee, the show features Manoj Murali Nair and Uttam Das Baul in songs, and Madhuboni Chatterjee in dance. Event: Hridkamaleshu Shreemati Hey..., an opera based on Tagore’s work When: Tomorrow at 6.30 pm Where: Rabindra Sadan

art

Till January 24 (except Sundays & holidays) at CIMA Gallery; 3 pm - 7 pm (Mondays) 2 pm - 7 pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays): Review, an exhibition of artworks that aspires to redefine our perception and understanding of art of the 20th century. Participating artists: Abir Karmakar, Alok Bal, Debraj Goswami, Farhad Hussain, Jogen Chowdhury, Kingshuk Sarkar, Mayank Kumar Shyam, Mithu Sen, Paresh Maity, Partha Pratim Deb, Rashmi Bagchi Sarkar, Samit Das, Santosh More, Sumitro Basak and Swarna Chitrakar. Till January 22 at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, 36C S.P. Mukherjee Road; 2 pm - 8 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts presents Small Things — an exhibition of paintings by Nisreen Moochhala.

DRAMA

Till January 20: To mark the completion of its 33 years, Rangakarmee presents Natya Mahotsav 2009 featuring five plays, directed by five extremely talented directors. Today at Academy of Fine Arts, 7 pm: Chehre (Hindusthani), directed by S.M. Azhar Alam. January 17 at Bharatiyam, Salt Lake; 6 pm: EZCC monthly theatre show: Shakuntala, produced by Natadha. Dir: Shib Mukhopadhyay. January 17 at Sisir Mancha; 7 pm: Maru Behag presents Tagore’s Ghare Baire. Direction: Jolly Guha Roy. January 17 at the CC & FC; 7.30 pm: Stagecraft presents Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest. Direction: Rohit Pombra.

PERFORMING ARTS

January 17 at ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Tollygunge; 2 pm: ITC Sangeet Sammelan: 30 years of Guru-Shishya Parampara. Featuring Abir Hossain (sarod), Arun Bhaduri with Adarsh Saxena (vocal), Anindo Chatterjee (tabla solo), Mashkoor Ali Khan with Arshad Ali Khan (vocal), Buddhadev Das Gupta and Manilal Nag (sarod-sitar jugalbandi), and Ajoy Chakrabarty with Anal Chatterjee and Deborshee Bhattacharjee (vocal). January 17 at B.D. Auditorium, Salt Lake; 5.30 pm: Malashree’s 1st annual programme featuring Tagore songs, classical dance, recitation January 17 at Tripura Hitasandhani Bhawan, College Square; 6 pm: Badyam presents a classical music programme featuring Durga Shankar (vocal), Samiran Ganguly (sitar), Sudip Chatterjee (violin) and Sukdev Goswami (vocal). January 17 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 6.30 pm: Sanskriti Sagar presents an evening of qawwali by Sufi quawwals Shamim-Naeem Ahmed Ajmeri and troupe. January 17 at Kala Mandir; 9 pm onwards (night-long): Sabrang Sangeet Sammelan, organised by Sabrang Music Trust. Featuring Rajan and Sajan Mishra (vocal); Subhra Guha (vocal); Kushal Das (sitar); Arshad Ali Khan (vocal); Tarang ensemble led by Abhijit Banerjee (pakhawaj, tabla, cajun) with Snehashish Majumder (mandolin, double-neck banjo), Somnath Roy (ghatam, kanjira, duff, folk percussion), Bangalore Rajshekhar (morsing) and Goutam Shome (keyboard); and introducing Jaya Seal Ghosh in a Bharata Natyam recital. January 17 at Rabindra Sadan; 10 pm (night-long): Bangiya Sangeet Parishad’s 32nd classical music conference features Abdul Rashid Khan and Arun Bhaduri (vocal), Kamal Mallick and Chandan Mallick (sarod), Sujoy Basu (sitar) and Samar Saha (tabla lahara). January 18 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 6 pm: Dhruvapada — a concert by noted Rabindrasangeet performer Rahul Mitra and dhrupad exponent Uday Bhawalkar. January 18 at Shamiana grounds, Tollygunge Club; 6 pm: Way to Hollywood, an Indo-American jazz concert by internationally acclaimed percussion virtuoso & music director Abhishek Basu. Featuring guest artiste jazz guitarist Fred Hamilton from Northern Texas University (USA) and BBC award-winning dancer-choreographer Anurekha Gh- osh (from UK) along with Sounak Chattopadhyay (Indian classical vocalist) and Shamrat Guha (keyboards. Supported by Impromptu Symphonic Mind. January 18 at Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi; 5.30 pm: Chhandak presents an evening of recitaion and audio-play. January 18 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: An evening of Bengali songs by Arati Mukherjee, Madhuri Chatterjee, Mrinmay Roy and Shikha Dutta. Organised by Madhusudan Mancha Staff Welfare Organisation.

FILM SHOW

January 15 - 18 at Nandan II; 4 pm & 6 pm: Cine Central, Calcutta, in collaboration with Nandan, West Bengal Film Centre and Consulate of Japan Calcutta, presents a retrospective of Japanese film director Keisuke Kinoshita. Today at 4 pm: Carmen’s Pure Love; at 6 pm: Spring Dreams. Tomorrow at 4 pm: The Scent of Incense (Part 1); at 6 pm: The Scent of Incense (Part 2).

EXHIBITION

Till January 18 at Flat B, ground floor, main block, Tivoli Court, 1A Ballygunge Circular Road; 11 am - 7.30 pm: Restorations presents an exhibition of antique furniture.

TALK

January 16 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park, Vivekananda Hall; 6 pm: Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel laureate in physics, will speak in English on From Big Bang to the Lowest Temperatures Ever Achieved. Rabin Banerjee will preside.

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

January 17 at Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math; 4.45 am onwards: The 147th bithday celebration of Srimat Swami Vivekananda. Special launch services throughout the day. January 17 at Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar; 7 am onwards: Special Puja, Havan, kali-kirtan to mark Swami Vivekananda’s birthday. January 17 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 6.30 pm: Celebration of Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary.

FESTIVAL

January 17 at Swabhumi; 10 am onwards (day-long): Pongal Festival, organised by Bharathi Tamil Sangam along with all Tamil associations of Bengal.

QUIZ

January 18 at Starmark Terrace, 3 Lord Sinha Road; 4.30 pm: Blockbuster 2009, the Starmark Film Quiz, to be conducted by Devdan Mitra and Pratim D. Gupta. Open to three-member teams. Registration at 4 pm. Preliminary round from 4.30 pm and Final round from 6 pm. For registration and other details, call 99039 85097.

FOUNDATION DAY

January 17 at Rathindra Mancha; 5.45 pm: Foundation Day celebration of Rabindra Bharati Society. An exhibition gallery will be inaugurated at Soumendranath Tagore hall.

LAUNCH

January 17 at Oxford Bookstore, Park Street; 6 pm: Oxford bookstore and Akar Prakar host the launch of Varta, a bi-annual magazine on modern and contemporary art, by Nabaneeta Dev Sen. Guest of honour: Ganesh Haloi. Also, a panel discussion on Art writings: Challenges, potentials, directions by Samik Bandopadhyay and Adip Dutta; moderator: Tapati Guha Thakurta.

REUNION

January 17 at St John’s Diocesan Girls’ Higher Secondar School; 3 pm: Alumni ssociation of St John’s Diocesan Girls’ Higher Secondary School hosts a get-together of ex-students. Contact school for registration. January 18 at Satyen Basu Sabhagriha, Hindu School; 5.30 pm: Annual reunion of Hindu School Alumni Association.

EDUCATION FAIR

January 16 - 18 at 83 S.P. Mukherjee Road, Devi Market, 4th floor, near JD park Metro station and Kalighat church; 12 noon - 8 pm: University of Sussex and associates present Study in the UK 2009, a mini UK education fair that will provide information to students about educational opportunities in the UK in many top Universities. Application and visa documentation help will be provided. Details at # 9874043429.

READING

January 18 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 11 am: Professor P. Lal reads Sanjaya's report of Bhima reassuring Krishna, who has misgivings about the outcome of Duryodhana's mace duel with Bhima, and Balarama arriving to witness it, in the 457th weekly session of his sloka-by-sloka English transcreation of Vyasa's Mahabharata.

AWARD CEREMONY

January 18 at Science City Auditorium; 4 pm: Arsalan presents the 17th Kalakar Awards for excellence in cinema, television and entertainment.All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to: Time out, The Telegraph,6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001; Fax: 2234-8244

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All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to:

Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2234-8244