A thousand member choir was organized at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata on 5th July, to commemorate the 100 years of English translation of Geetanjali. The event was conceived and directed by Arundhati Deb, and the music was arranged and conducted by Prattyush Banerjee.

 

The medley of songs along with intermittent verses from Geetanjali marked the occasion. The recitation was by Partha Ghosh and Arundhati Deb, and singers had gathered from all over India to grace the occasion. Such a choir was previously organized by Arundhati Deb herself, which included stalwarts in Rabindrasangeet like Maya Sen, Suchitra Mitra and the likes of them. The programme was telecast live, and was fashioned grandly.

 

The lotus shaped choir  represented the Upanishadic concept of self-realization. The songs too and the narrative excerpts attempted to bring out Tagore’s spiritual thoughts through music and words. The programme was extremely well organized and flawless in its own way.

 

Yet, mulling over Tagore and the reception of his Geetanjali, a hundred years later, there could have been innovative ways of presentation. There are poets in our own times who have written on  Tagore and his works, and there has been a lot of experimentation going on with Tagore’s ideations and his philosophy. One could have expected a rich collage of  Tagore’s reception, instead of a re-presentation of Tagore. 

 

 

By Managing Editor