On December 27, the Bengal Heritage Foundation (BHF), a UK-based charity, and The Bengal joined hands to pay tribute to and entertain the senior citizens of Kolkata with a bouquet of evergreen Bengali songs by non-resident Bengalis and a satirical play on Covid-19 at the GD Birla Sabhagar
“Given that we live abroad, we always worry about our parents back home. More than that, we always have a feeling that we aren’t doing enough for them. This event is to honour them in our own way by celebrating not just Indian culture, but also Bengali culture, which isn’t talked about enough in the West,” said Sourav Niyogi (third from left), senior partner at IBM and former president of the BHF, alongside interdisciplinary artiste Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee and The Bengal's Esha Dutta
The programme was inaugurated by Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee, who remarked on the lives of Indians abroad, “their hankering for home” and why “age is just a number” is a cliche with a lot of truth
The opening performance of the afternoon was delivered by members of Pronam, a joint initiative of Kolkata Police and The Bengal to cater to the needs of senior citizens in the city. A wholesome musical set was made even more special by percussionist Biplab Mondal
The next part of the programme was about reliving the timeless appeal of Bengali classics, with songs originally sung by the likes of Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay regaling the audience. Rabindrasangeet was also present in ample doses, with a soulful rendition of Tumi Robe Nirobe proving particularly memorable. Among the singers were Anamika Sarkar, Riddhi Bardhan, Ani Bardhan, Tanusree Guha and Suranjan Som, the president of the BHF. “Bengali songs take me to my childhood because that’s where I first learnt music, when I was four. These songs are the refuge and tranquillity I always seek out. They are a source of sustenance for me,” said Tanusree Guha, director at Bank of America in the UK
The highlight of the event was ‘Naba Narak Guljaar’, conceived and directed by Koushik Chatterjee, fondly known as KayCee, who works as a client partner at Cognizant in the UK. Influenced by Manoj Mitra’s 1970s classic, ‘Narak Guljaar’, the play subtly satirises the hypocrisy of contemporary society, where the powerful establish themselves as dictators of destinies. Set in the court of Bidhata, deceased souls arrive from Earth to receive their final judgments and be sent to either heaven or hell. What follows is comedy and chaos, but not without a deeper and more grim reflection on humans failing to play gods
“My play is my protest. It’s an attempt to bring to the fore the indirect deaths during the pandemic and the systemic corruption that’s largely responsible for them. Not many would believe that this play was rehearsed over the course of just two days. Not all the actors are professionals, but they caught up real quick. This play has been staged quite a few times in the UK, where we’ve had to spend a fortune for the production. Here in Kolkata, with such impressive craftsmanship, dedication and financial prudence, I think our play has received the appreciation we wanted,” said KayCee
“The play did a good job in offering a kind of commentary on Covid that we’ve not heard enough of, with much of the creative conversation around the pandemic being one-dimensional. The unpopular opinions have filtered through in bits and pieces in our society, but the play managed to articulate it quite well. Through it, the BHF team and The Bengal reached out not just to a particular community, but to everyone who has lived through the pandemic,” said actor Rwitobroto Mukherjee (third from left), who featured in a cameo, playing a doctor summoned to heaven from Earth