Sniffing Rain

Ah! It rains finally!
(After an hour)
Kolkata needed that. It was hot, it was humid, it was terrible.
The rain changed it all. From terrible to terrific. Half an hour long shower revived us.
People came out to drench. People screamed in joy.
Thank you Rain God for your kindest blessings!

Biswa Kabi Rabindranath Tagore on His 150th Birthday, A Tribute

TOMARE PRONAAM!
A tribute to Biswa Kabi Rabindranath Tagore on his 150th Birthday. This is, as per Bengali calender, the 25th BAISAKH, 1417, the birthday of the famous poet and philosopher.

Gitanjali (Song Offerings), a collection of 103 poems by the great poet. Gitanjali (গীতাঞ্জলি) is Tagore's best-known collection, winning him his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.

On Gitanjali:

We write long books where no page perhaps has any quality to make writing a pleasure, being confident in some general design, just as we fight and make money and fill our heads with politics---all dull things in the doing---while Mr. Tagore, like the Indian civilization itself, has been content to discover the soul and surrender himself to its spontaneity.


W.B. YEATS September 1912
Irish poet, dramatist and prose writer, one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century. Yeats received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.

Excerpts from Gitanjali:

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O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders!
O beggar, to come beg at thy own door!
Leave all thy burdens on his hands who can bear all, and never look behind in regret.
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I had gone a-begging from door to door in the village path, when thy golden chariot appeared in the distance like a gorgeous dream and I wondered who was this King of all kings!
My hopes rose high and methought my evil days were at an end, and I stood waiting for alms to be given unasked and for wealth scattered on all sides in the dust.
The chariot stopped where I stood. Thy glance fell on me and thou camest down with a smile. I felt that the luck of my life had come at last. Then of a sudden thou didst hold out thy right hand and say `What hast thou to give to me?'
Ah, what a kingly jest was it to open thy palm to a beggar to beg! I was confused and stood undecided, and then from my wallet I slowly took out the least little grain of corn and gave it to thee.
But how great my surprise when at the day's end I emptied my bag on the floor to find a least little gram of gold among the poor heap. I bitterly wept and wished that I had had the heart to give thee my all.
.......................................

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I dive down into the depth of the ocean of forms, hoping to gain the perfect pearl of the formless.
No more sailing from harbour to harbour with this my weather-beaten boat. The days are long passed when my sport was to be tossed on waves.
And now I am eager to die into the deathless....
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Complete translation of Gitanjali.

Manuscript of the Poet in Bengali.
Acknowledgement: CalCuttaWeb.com

"Dancing Girl" - a painting by Rabindranath Tagore. He would often tell his paintings were meant for the Western World.

Rabindranath, on Western World:

And "It hurts me deeply when the cry of rejection rings loud against the West in my country with the clamour that the Western education can only injure us."



Seser Kobita
A novel by Rabindranath Tagore, widely considered a landmark in Bengali literature. The novel was serialised in 1928, from Bhadro to Choitro in the magazine Probashi, and was published in book form the following year. It has been translated into English as The Last Poem (translator Anandita Mukhopadhyay) and Farewell song (translator Radha Chakravarty).

An excerpts:



A memorable scene from Satyajit Ray's "Charulata" which is an adaption of "Nastanirh" by Rabindranath Tagore. In this scene the main character, Charu, sings Tagore's song, "Fule Fule Dhole Dhole."



Rabindra Sangeet
Songs of the famous poet, the lyrics will touch your heart, and tears may roll down in silence, in joys, in sadness and in fulfillment! The songs are spiritually enriched extending to the horizon of the universal divinity.
















This is our humble persona to pay a tribute to Biswa Kabi.
While creating this page, I know not why, tears of inexplainable origin dripped all through all along. I believe that's my real tribute, which you could never see.

Subarnalata, Again on TV

Subarnalata is the sensational novel of Asapurna Devi mirroring the middle class Bengali society during the independence/ post-independence days. On a "BANDH" day, I had the scope to keep an eye on Zee BANGLA channel. And to my surprise, I saw the commencement of a new Bengali TV serial, "Subarnalata" based on the famous novel. Fortunately, this was the first episode. So, I continued to watch it.

However, my first impression was not at all good. A dull presentation, lacking specific detailing severely. I know the story is complex and its filming may not be easy. But mistakes in production team is even visible to an apparently blind TV observer like me. It is rather odd to see the patriots chanting "BANDE MATARAM" and marching on newly constructed asphalt road. A close look will reveal that such road could not have been in existence during that period. Oops! I believe Serial-makers do not have a good appraisal of new-age Bengali audience, who are clever enough to pick-up casual work.

To go in line with the care of production team, the music is also so so. While most other contemporary Bengali TV serials have shown remarkable creativity in composing new themes to create proper environment, the first episode of Subarnalata did not have shown anything special so far as its music is concerned. It is rather boring mimicking overused freedom themes.

Costume design, an important aspect of such a time-sensitive novel, is far from expectation!

The acting, as usual, is stunning. If anyone continues to watch this show, it will be for acting alone and nothing else.
I believe Emami group would do better investing in R&D for some fairness cream rather than sponsoring such enterprise.
You guys need to work a lot to reflect the tension, passion, patriotism, conflicts and the facts - which has now become a part of history and still very much contemporary.

Best of luck for future episodes.

For readers it is recommended to read the original book, which is available in your local book store. Besides, Gopa Majumdar has translated the original novel in English version, so, you can read the English version as well.

Have a good day.

Please! Let it Rain! Let it Rain!

It rains. It rains uninterrupted at Kolkata. School goers needed a rainy day. We used to get it each year. My school was few minutes away from home. And I have never enjoyed being pent in classrooms. I used to stare at the sky overcast with cloud. I used to wait for rains. And if it would start, I used to pray to the God – ‘Please! Let it rain! Let it rain!’ And I would merry staying confined in home during such a day. On the contrary, in college, I never missed to attend classes in a rainy day, and, so I’m now – when I am in my office. Days have changed a lot. May be, me too! But this is my vision – school goers must have at least one rainy day each year. This is their student-right.

There’s a gradual change in climate. I guess. There’s a sharp change in my mind. I enjoy every little drop of rainfall. Even now! But I try not to get drenched anymore. Now I’ve an umbrella fulltime. I need protection for my Pen drive, the Nokia Cell Phone, I carry, important papers in my typical college bag. Yes. I still carry a college bag, and not a regular office bag.

It rains today. It has been raining heavy since past few days. The city of joy gets back its classic rainy look. Streets are water logged. Low areas are just looking like a flood hit city. The street water in some low areas will encroach the entire ground floor. I know. Boats will soon take the place of cars, autos, and sundry other public vehicles in those areas. Yes. It’ll happen again.

I know those people in distress. I feel for them. I know - a lot of them must have already shifted to other parts of the city. Still there are a lot other, who must not have a better place to stay. And even if they somehow manage to move to some better place, the unending streams of people coming to the city for a better livelihood will fill up the vacant places almost instantly. There will always be some people staying in those low areas. They will be forced to stay there and to fight against their destiny. Lifelong! Oftentimes! I feel for them. The place is physically very close to where I stay, barely fifteen minutes away. We are saved. We stay in a rather high-area. There is stagnant water. But it will not occupy our living space.

The city drainage system is under a thorough overhaul. And believe me, it now works somehow better. In my school days, we used to see water logged streets for three to four days. And today’s school goers will never see it that long. Heavy-duty pumps are already in operation round-the-clock.

Kolkata looks greener in a rainy day. The grasses, the trees, bushes, the metal roads – every bit of things at Kolkata shine like mercury. If you somehow can free your mind from those people in distress – there is really some pleasure during this uninterrupted rainfall.

When I reached office, I took a cup of hot tea. Yes. I had to take off my shoes, my Nokia mobile phone, pen drive, all papers and documents. It is a complete chaos. Still somehow somewhere in my mind – I recalled my school days. And all the recent resentments, troubles, turmoil, stress, and what not got flushed off from my mind. I started feeling better.

Happy rainy day!

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Photo source: The Tribune