Those who had gathered to watch the Baishe Srabon event at Rabindra Tirtha last weekend were in for a bonus. Since the chief guest arrived a good 45 minutes after the scheduled ending of the show, the performers played on for the extra time. They even took requests for songs from the audience.
Firhad Hakim, the newly anointed chairman of West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco), reached after 8pm and the musicians were requested to play on till he showed up. Finally when Hakim and his wife Ismat arrived, they concluded the show by garlanding a Tagore portrait and watering a plant on stage.
Between inauguration and the extended conclusion was a fiesta of music and dance themed around Tagore’s works on the monsoon.
The day, other than being the 80th death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, was the ninth anniversary of Rabindra Tirtha itself. “Since 1942 (the year after his death), there is a tradition in Santiniketan to mark the day through tree plantation. We follow the same tradition,” said Rabindra Tirtha curator Anup Matilal.
“When Rabindra Tirtha was opened, the chief minister had pointed out that it was not difficult to build an auditorium but there must be a constant line-up of programmes. Last year, even when there was a national lockdown, we had organised an online Poila Baisakh programme, with the same singers as today. But over the months we have all become tired of Zoom and Facebook Live. The government has allowed shows with 50 per cent attendance. It is such a pleasant sight to see you all in the auditorium,” said Hidco managing director Debashis Sen, addressing the audience.
Father-daughter duo Debashish and Rohini Ray Chowdhury, who have been performing together for the last 10 years, started with Momo mon upobone, composed by Tagore at the age of 73.
“Tagore was born in the heat of Baisakh and left amid monsoon showers 80 years later. He loved this season. Of all the season-specific songs he has composed, monsoon songs outnumber the rest,” narrated Debashis. Monsoon is linked to amorous adventures through the tradition of Vaishnav Padabali. Dark clouds and showers provide a backdrop to Radha’s dalliances, added Rohini, before starting the duet, which was accompanied by Mrittika Bhattacharya’s dance. His next song Esho go jwele diye jao had dance accompaniment by Arkadev Bhattacharya.
Once the monsoon-themed programme ended, the singers obliged audience requests like Jokhon porbe na mor payer chinho.
“Due to the pandemic last year, we turned to Facebook and YouTube to continue our art. Performing in front of people without a mask was quite a risk,” Rohini told The Telegraph Salt Lake later. “But the equipment here were sanitised and we are all more or less vaccinated.”
Many local residents had come to watch the live show. “I came to know about the programme through social media, and came with my friends. Although this is the first cultural programme I am attending this year, I wasn’t scared as I kept my mask on,” said Santa Pal, a resident of DB Block, New Town.
