There were barely 15 people off stage and they were all involved with the programme — be it as technician, as official or as participant waiting for his or her turn.

This year, the death anniversary observations of Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam by Hidco in New Town were special for both the audience and the artistes. As is customary, Rabindra Tirtha hosted the former and Nazrul Tirtha hosted the latter programme. But the venues are where the similarity ended with what happens in other years.

“We are used to celebrating every occasion. But this year, because of the total lockdown in April, we had to let Nava Varsha go by. Only artistes of Dakshinee recorded some performances from home for us which we posted online. On Tagore’s birth anniversary in May, the Hidco chairman and the Rabindra Tirtha curator spoke on stage and we repeated last year’s 25 Baisakh programme on our Facebook page. When things started opening up in the Unlock phase, we thought of holding programmes at the venue but of course without an audience. The programmes were recorded on stage a couple of days in advance and uploaded on the Facebook pages of the respective venues and on the WBHidco YouTube page,” said an official.

Iman Chakraborty on song at Rabindra Tirtha Sourced by the Telegraph

The occasion turned out to be memorable for the artistes for it was the first time almost all of them were taking the stage in months. “We are born to the stage. We experience an adrenaline rush while stepping on one. While I was thrilled to get on a stage after four and a half months, I had mixed feelings about the experience as there was no audience,” recalled elocutionist Pranati Tagore, who had a special word for the way the stage was beautifully decorated.

The scent of tuberoses and jasmine is what struck another elocutionist, Shovansundar Bosu, as he took his place next to musicians in masks. He savoured the feeling of being part of a concert so much that even after recording was over for his performance, he stayed back till the end to watch others. “We were all in a relaxed mood which is never the case as we are always rushing to finish off and head for the next show during peak season,” said the Kestopur resident. Seeing Pranati Tagore wait as he took the stage, he asked her if she wanted to perform ahead of him. “She smilingly asked me to carry on.”

Pranati smiled wistfully at the mention of how such days would be spent in other years. “Baishe Sravan would start early in the morning with a programme at Nimtala Ghat, where Kaviguru was cremated. About eight to nine shows would be lined up for the rest of the day,” she recalled, adding that she was not thinking of taking part in live concerts with audience any time soon, even if such gatherings were allowed.

Hidco chairman Debashis Sen lights a lamp to open the show at Nazrul Tirtha in tribute to Kazi Nazrul Islam that was webcast on August 29 Sourced by the Telegraph

All the artistes rued the lack of audience reaction. “After a song, you can make out if the audience liked it. Here there was no one to react. It was a strange test to get used to,” said Prabuddha Raha, who has gone online with his weekly classes that took place in DB and CK blocks.

Iman Chakraborty, whose performance opened the online show, felt the experience was more like a studio shoot. “But it felt great to sit on a stage after months. My last show before this was on March 10.” So excited was she to meet other performers that on seeing Srikanta Acharya, she took out her sanitiser bottle, applied some to her palm and extended her arm for a handshake. “He also did the same. We did that in jest to accept the new normal,” said Iman.

Nazrul’s 44th death anniversary on August 29 also went the online way, with performances of four artistes from Chhayanat being recorded at Nazrul Tirtha the day before. “We deal round the year with Kazi Nazrul Islam’s work. We had prepared a documentary film titled Nazruler Churulia, by visiting the poet’s birthplace near Asansol and interviewing his nephew Rezaul Karim, the current president of Nazrul Academy, which is located where his house stood. It was to have been screened at Nazrul Tirtha on this occasion but that was cancelled in this pandemic situation,” said Somerita Mallik, president of Chhayanat.

Speaking at the Baishey Srabon show, Hidco chairman Debashis Sen said though conventional concerts could not be held, the “online window has opened”. “We are getting an opportunity to reach our programme across the world,” he said, welcoming the artistes who “have conquered fear to come and perform” at Rabindra Tirtha, which he described as the “Santiniketan of Calcutta”.

The two programmes can still be viewed on the WBHidco YouTube page.