Once again the stage was set, the harmonium was played, the sympathetic strings of the sitar were plucked and every heart hummed the tunes of tradition as May 9 2010 recorded the 150 Birth Anniversary of the legendary poet Rabindranath Tagore. As a poet, writer, painter, song writer, orator, composer, philosopher the legend has given so much to the identity of a Bengali person. Born on 1861 in Jorasanko in the palatial ancestral house of the illustrious Tagore family Rabindranath was the youngest son of father Devendranath Tagore and mother Sarada Devi. From his childhood, Tagore always had an aversion towards formal schooling, so he was educated athomein the surroundings of open air in a natural environment which might gave him the power to nurture his creativity.
Tagore got early success as a writer in his native Bengal. His fame attended a luminous height taking him across continents on lecture tours and tours of friendship. With his translations of some of his poems he became rapidly known in the west.
Bengali poetry of Tagore like Manasi (The ideal one) 1890 Sonar Tari, ( The golden boat) 1894 Gitimalya, (The wreath of songs) 1914, Balaka (The flight of cranes) 1960 and Gitanjali (Song offerings) 1910 which fetched him a Nobel Prize in the year 1913 were the most odd and still unmatched. His English renderings The gardener (1913), The Fruit Gatherer (1910), The Fugitive (1921) were the charismatic effort of his vision.
As the author of India’s national anthem, for the world he became the voice of India’s spiritual heritage and for India especially for Bengal a great living institution. Tagore’s unhappy school days led him to establish Shantiniketan, an institution that could be observed as a path maker in educational experimentation and a centre of excellence and achievement where classes could be held in open air surrounded by the land scape of greenery.
Celebrations of the 150 Birth Anniversary of the Nobel Laureate proved unique this year when 3 mega cities of Indiaandeven Bangladesh switched together to garland the poet’s novelty. Environment o f traditional tunes, folk songs and dances surrounded Bengal. Songs especially Rabindra Sangeet which is still unique with its mixture of Indian classical music and popular folklore of Bengal dominated the performances and the stage shows. Celebrations at Kolkata comprised the cultural shows, music, drama, skits,traditional dances and songs at the auditorium of Rabindra Sadan. Bengal’s Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee promised to renovate the Nimtala burning ghat in Kolkata as soon as possible where Tagore’s cremation rites were performed.
Indian Railways took the initiative to introduce a five coach exhibition train named Sanskriti Express which was inaugurated by Hon’ble Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. The train was adorned with artistic splendour of the creative genius and was solely designed to pay a tribute to the great poet of the nation. Along with it the Indian Railways also organised for an auspicious evening to facilitate eminent persons from the background of literary art and culture at the Rail Museum, Howrah on the occasion of 150 Birth Anniversary of the great Tagore. In Shantiniketan celebrations of Tagore’s anniversary began with Adhyapak Sabha holding the first event at lipika. Unlike the previous anniversaries when there were year-long programmes with a glittering guest list, this time there were no such high profile guests. However the graceful song, dance, skit and other performances did remain centre to the heart of Visva-Bharati paying its 150 tribute to its ideal founder.
Since 1861 to 2010 it is more than a century, a splendid vision has been born on earth. Incredible, incomparable in his own stature Tagore has adorned so much for the heritage of Indian culture, he wanted education in real sense and not what the word implies. He wanted a university on oriental lines and not the western system. But today his words remain confined to the numerous anthologies that get published every year.
With the changing times in contemporary world where modern patterns are dominating institutions, where the contemporary sense of literature influence the tradition, Rabindra Sangeet should be trendy says the advocates of change. Tagore’s music should be tailored for popular tastes so as to enter the heart and minds of the young. Many believe that the readership of Tagore dwindles so it has to undergo change attaching or adding a pinch of newness to it. But still Tagore remains as the true aspect of inspiration. It is evident as contemporary directors tend to take Tagore’s writings as reference to their films. Many even directed films over Tagore’s popular writings such as Choker Bali and Charulata. Notes of Tagore tunes might have been changed a little, but the wind of change could not sway the true artistic ideals. It could not change the foundation of its origination. Tunes were changed only to add a funky refrain to the original. However attempts to improvisation and experiments with Tagore’s unique creativity are welcome but it will be a challenge to capture the Tagore spirit. However in the contemporary tussle Rabindra Sangeet will emerge stronger, some changes might stick others will not. But as the strongest cultural element in Bengal Tagore’s songs will continue to be sung and heard and shall always remain an inspiration for the future vision.
