22e Srabon – Saluting the Memory of Tagore
7th of August was Tagore’s 81st death anniversary when The Pangs of Pain was organized at LGT Hall New Delhi. The program was enriched by performance by Dona Ganguly and Dr Ananda Gupta.
with inputs from Sudipta Chanda, The Dreamers | Photographs by Habib
On the 7th of August1941, in the city of Calcutta, a man died. His mortal remains perished. But he left behind him a heritage, which no fire could consume. It is a heritage of words and music and poetry, of ideas and of ideals which has the power to move us, to inspire us, even today. The allure of the heritage is such that Dona Ganguly and Dr. Ananda Gupta came all the way from London to attend a special event The Pangs of Pain (Mrityu Aghat Lage Prane) at LTG Hall, New Delhi to salute the humdinger. The program was a collective of dance, music and poetry by Rabindra Kishore Sarkar, on the occasion of Tagore’s 81st death anniversary.
Tagore’s compositions are such which capture the expression of life and show us the way in many ways. It has the ability to gives strength to the mind on a sad day. Tagore himself had seen death time and again in his own life. His acquaintance with death was since childhood. While writing his memoirs in Jibansmriti, he described the moments of the last journey of his mother’s death. Later, the passing away of dear Bouthan, the death of his children, the death of close friends made his writing more intense. His songs capture the expression of a deep sense of life.
The Pangs of Pain was a blend of pain and rain. It soaked all those pains in raindrops, and took the mind to an unknown place. Dr. Ananda Gupta an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet and a key person in Dakshinayan UK rendered songs like Jiban Jakhan Sukaye Jay, Pathe Chole Jete Jete, Jakhan Parbe Na Mor Payer Chinha, Ke Jay Amritadham Jatri. These songs were complimented by an equally remarkable Odissi performance by Dona Ganguly and her students of Diksha Manjari.
The evening saw Dona Ganguly’s marvelous appearance in the songs like Ohey Jiban Ballabh, Tomay Gaan Shonabo, Amar Praner Pore Chole Gelo Ke. The outstanding music arrangement, by Dr Ananda Gupta, and the heart touching choreography by Dona Ganguly made the evening truly an unforgettable one.
It is worth mentioning here that, the entire program was rehearsed in Dona Ganguly’s Kolkata residence as both the leading performers landed in city a few days back all the way from London. Eventually Dr. Ananda Gupta and Dona Ganguly presented Tagore’s dance drama Mayar Khela in Kolkata and Shantiniketan a few months back which got a grand success.
After the program Dona Ganguly said, “It is a day that weighs heavily on every Bengali. He has seen death from close quarters time and again. We have also lost many loved ones during the Corona period. The strength of his heart that he showed in those difficult moments, now we are getting it from him through his songs. We are getting strength to fight back the tough times from the essence of Tagore’s songs.”
Dr. Ananda Gupta also said, “In fact death is one of the biggest truths in life. The sense of life needed to accept it easily is found in his songs. We celebrated that vitality.”
The evening at LTG Hall, New Delhi would be remembered as an evening of tribute, of love and salutation for the man whom we owe so much.