In yet another step by which an emerging township of brick and mortar is invested with soul through cultural activities, an organisation has been formed of and for classical music lovers of New Town.
Jalsaghar New Town chapter held its first programme at Rabindra Tirtha on January 20. The idea germinated when Sudipta Saha and Bhaskar Sardar, who are both members of the senior citizens’ club Swapnabhor, spotted a lacuna in the cultural landscape of New Town.
“We have a big-budget Durga puja, our Rabindrajayanti features the biggest artistes but there is no platform for classical music. There are many music lovers who cannot travel to south Calcutta to attend Dover Lane Music Conference. So we thought of forming a body and organizing a concert here,” said joint secretary Saha.
As others joined, they got connected to Robin Paul, founder general secretary of Jalsaghar, a platform for promotion of classical music, who has presented shows featuring doyens of the field. “He promised to guide us and we thought of naming this Jalsaghar New Town as musicians are familiar with the parent body,” said Saha.
The event, inaugurated by Swami Vishokananda, secretary, Vivek Tirtha, Ramakrishna Mission Centre for Human Excellence and Social Sciences in New Town, drew a full house.
“I am glad that Jalsaghar now has a New Town chapter. People here will get to listen to some of the top performing artistes of our times,” said Swami Vishokananda.
The evening featured Souraja Tagore’s Bharatanatyam, followed by Pt Tanmoy Bose’s tabla, accompanied by Pubarun Basu and Soumyadeep Das on tabla and Pt Hiranmoy Mitra on harmonium. Next up was vocalist Pt Mohan Singh, after which the Kedia brothers presented a sitar-sarod jugalbandi. Debasis Bose hosted the concert.
Souraja Tagore in a Bharatanatyam step
All ears
“I remember travelling to south Calcutta to listen to such soirees. Now we have them in our neighbourhood as well,” said Shinjini Pal, a resident of Action Area I.
Sneha Goswami, a music teacher, said: “People of New Town have long yearned for something like this. I hope this becomes an annual event. Attending a musical soiree with some of the best artistes in the country is like a winter ritual.”
The artistes too enjoyed the experience. “I have played several times in this part of the city. But performing for an audience which has chosen to listen to Indian classical music for almost three hours at a stretch is a big thing,” Bose said, thanking the audience. General secretary Paul promised many more such events. “The concert scene had ebbed after the pandemic. I too am getting on in years. The four or five men who came to seek my advice are full of enthusiasm. New Town has not been exploited for classical music. The listeners were exclusively from the township. So it was a good idea to start a chapter here,” he added.
Though they enjoyed the programme, some in the audience were in a hurry to leave long before the curtains came down. “Wish the programme happened during the day. I could have stayed back to listen to all the artistes, It is getting late,” said Hrishita Dutta, a resident of Action Area II on her way out, reflecting a lack of connectivity in New Town that the Dover Lane show does not suffer from.