Anando Sandhya: Rabindranath Tagore Celebrated

BNE (Bengalees of New England) celebrated Rabindranth Tagore’s birthday by hosting “Ananda Sandhya,” an evening filled with Tagore’s songs, poetry, and dance.  

“Ananda-  Expressions of Joy” and brought the young, the very young, and the adults exploring together the theme of joy through dance, music and narration, in the true  Tagorean spirit. An array of exceptional New England artistes put together a production that showcased some of Tagore’s best works creatively woven together in a tapestry celebrating “Chirontoni,” the Eternal Woman. The evening was made more memorable by an outstanding performance by Pramita Mallick, renowned Rabindranath singer from Kolkata.  It was a quintessential “Rabindrasandhya.”

The whole evening was very well orchestrated and the event planners and production coordinators deserve a round of applause. Everything began on time and ended on time – a first in this writer’s experience in the US!  BNE went out of the box in its format. It began with an “adda,” followed by the group performance, then a sumptuous Bangali dinner around seven, and ended with the solo performance by Promita Mallick. It allowed for one to immerse oneself in each segment of the performance and appreciate the distinctiveness.

Having an “adda,” that great Bangali staple, was a great start to the evening. There is no exact translation for this word. Suffice it say that it is such an intrinsic part of the Bangali social scene that it requires no invitation. Just drop in, hang out, and talk to your heart’s content and when satiated, move on.  It gave everyone the perfect opportunity to meet and greet over a cup of cha, and then transition into the evening’s main offerings without feeling rushed.

The show began with “Chirontoni,” conceptualized, produced, directed, and presented by Sujata Bhattacharya, an exceptionally gifted Rabindrasangeet singer and teacher. Sujatdi as she is popularly known, has an innate sense of the Tagore’s music, culture, and aesthetics.  She designed and set up the stage with the visual and space in balance that maximized the dancing area while ensuring that each singer and musician was also visible to the audience.  Given her deep understanding and appreciation of Tagore, she was able to create the ambiance redolent of the cultural evenings in Bengal.  Evocative, as someone in the audience commented.

 With her deep appreciation of the Bard’s music, Sujatadi and the group of talented singers and percussionists brought out the essence of Rabindrasangeet – the harmony of music, melody, beats, words, pronunciation, emotion, and interpretation. Interspersed with recitation and dance, and a slide show with quotes from Tagore’s poetry, the performances by Subhadip Bandopadhay, Mou Dey, Raka Datta, Piu Mukherjee Chatterjee, Anuradha Sanyal, Sharanya Sarkar Verma, Sujata Bhattacharya, Abhijit Brahmachari, Pratik Chatterjee, Jaideep Majumdar, Koushik Roy, Ayon Basumallik, Subhankar Choudhury, Anindita Banerjee, Monisha Sinha, Dipon Ghosh, Mouli Pal, and Swati Chakraborty kept the audience mesmerized. Nilay Mukherjee’s slide show was executed flawlessly, the timing perfect – not a pause too soon or too late.  Proteek Paul managed the sound and made sure that we heard every note of the beautiful music. Manas Chatterjee with his mastery over stage-lighting, ensured that we saw everything in its own light.

Each song was chosen with care, in keeping with the theme of the eternal woman and her many moods. The audience heard some incredible renditions of lesser -known songs. The recitation and the choreography showed the same careful thought and execution, evoking the complexities of the woman in Tagore’s writings. Solo renditions by each artiste stood out amidst the superb collaborative performance by the group. Each song was executed in the true spirit of Rabindrasangeet. 

Lokavani had an opportunity to meet with many of the artistes and applaud them on their performance and hear about their experiences in putting “Chirontoni,” together. It is after all no mean feat to successfully create a production of such dimension and depth. Given that everyone works full time with little or no flexibility, spends hours traveling, and family responsibilities, it speaks volumes about the place Tagore holds in their lives. Sujatadi and the group agreed in unison that Tagore is so much a part of the Bengali and the Bengali intellect, it is impossible to visualize an existence completely free out of the Bard. Tagore’s contribution to the Bengali language, literature, music, and culture can never be measured. He was prolific as he was profound. His songs seem deceptively simple compared to the classical musical traditions. Let it fall however, in the hands of one who lacks a full appreciation of the confluence of the mind, the sound, and the music, the song will sound insipid. They all agreed that Tagore continues to inspire them everyday and they look forward to more events like BNE’s “Ananda Sandhya.”

The evening came to an end with Pramita Mallick’s stellar solo performance. A renowned singer and Tagorean scholar, Ms. Mallick regaled the audience with a wide variety of songs. Ms. Mallick expressed her appreciation of the New England audience and gave an encore presentation with three Bengali classics, ending with Tagore’s “Krishnakali ami tarei boli…”  

It was a fitting end to an exceptional evening.

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For more on Ms. Mallick please see the In Conversation section.

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