St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) and St. Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association, along with Banga Sahitya Samiti, presented the Dashobhuja Bangali Awards on February 21 at St. Xavier’s College’s Park Street campus. The event, in association with The Telegraph, celebrated International Mother Language Day by honouring achievers from different fields, who identify as Bengali, have contributed to the Bengali language through their work or have made Bengal proud by representing the state on an international level. The annual college event welcomed distinguished names from the fields of cinema, music, theatre, sports, education, entrepreneurship and administration to the college campus to honour them for their extraordinary achievements and to listen to their success stories.
“St. Xavier’s College Calcutta has been standing tall for more than 164 years in this city and this country. We have just shown you our English medium college’s history of working with the Bengali language. This history is of all Xaverians. This history is of the Bengali language and the Bengal culture. We are very proud to celebrate this day in our college in such a grand manner. We should love our own language and respect it, and respect other languages as well. We want to respect all those who have through their work made a place for themselves and have found a place in our hearts too. They are Dashobhuja Bengalis for us,” said Fr. Dominic Savio while addressing the audience in Bengali. Glimpses:
Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty was felicitated by Rev. Fr. Dominic Savio, principal of St. Xavier’s College, and Firdausul Hasan, honorary secretary of St. Xavier’s College Alumni Association. “This year, like every other year, we celebrated International Mother Language Day by recognising the work and achievements of notable Bengali personalities from different fields. The Dashobhuja Bangali Award celebrates the quintessential Bengali, our creativity and passionate nature. It is SXC’s tribute to the multifaceted capabilities of the Bengali spirit,” said Firdausul Hasan, honorary secretary of SXCCAA.
Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty, after receiving the award, performed Matribandana on stage. “I get very embarrassed if I get any award because I don’t think I am worthy of any award. I have been learning music since childhood, and till today, I consider myself a student of music. Moreover, I feel any award given to us actually belongs to Indian music; I am only a servant of Indian music. Our country’s pride will only increase if our children learn the value of Indian music, which I am trying to do through my institute Shrutinandan. I am here because St. Xavier’s called me today, not for the award,” said Chakrabarty.
“I am blessed to be awarded on this stage because on this same stage, Panditji was awarded today, along with so many others. I feel this honour is for the people of my country. Whoever pays respect to me actually pays respect to my country. This award is associated with the Bengali language, and everyone who is a Bengali, no matter where they are in the world, should always keep the language close to their heart and work towards its progress,” said actor Chanchal Chowdhury.
“I am from Presidency (University). It feels like I am sitting in the East Bengal gallery as a Mohun Bagan supporter! (Laughs) But I have always had many friends at Xavier’s. Thank you for honouring me. I am a storyteller, and narrating stories is my work. Sometimes you appreciate it and at times you don’t. When I was working in corporate, I never thought I would ever be able to touch lives. The fact that I have been able to do it is my luck,” said filmmaker Srijit Mukherji.