প্রবন্ধ - উদয় শঙ্কর দাশ

Chittagong’s tryst with Tagore culture

Uday Sankar Das, from Chittagong

“Chittagong is the land of Poet Alaol, Chittagong is the land of Abdul Karim Shahitto Bisharad, it therefore is not surprising that the courageous and devoted people of Chittagong would celebrate the birth centenary of the greatest Bengali poet in the grandest manner possible, defying all odds and threats”, said Professor Momtazuddin Ahmed, noted theatre personality, playwright, director and actor .

There was a tinge of pride when reputed social scientist and present vice-chancellor of Premier University, Professor Dr Anupam Sen said, “Chittagong has been the pioneer in the practice and promotion of Tagore culture in this part of Bengal”.

Dr Sanjida Khatun, one of the greatest proponents of Tagore culture in Bangladesh, agreed by saying, “Chittagong always had a very rich cultural tradition”.

One can therefore easily see that Chittagong had a tryst with Tagore and his music for a very long time, and even during his life time Tagore’s music had been firmly rooted there. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the practice and teaching of Tagore’s songs were confined to the very small but influential Brammho community (the religious community to which Tagore belonged) in Chittagong under the patronage of Annada Charan Khastagir, the father-in-law of Jatra Mohon Sen, a revered leader of Chittagong.

This practice soon spread to the Hindu families there which happened mainly due to the contacts and communication Tagore and/or his family had with them. Prominent among these families were those of Kobi Nabin Chandra Sen, Jamini Kanta Sen, Rai Bahadur Sarachchandra Das, Kedar Nath Dasgupta, Purna Chandra Sen and Braja Kumar Sen.

The practice became widespread with the formation of a noted music institution, Arya Sangeet, one of the citadels of classical music in then East Bengal. The arrival of music maestro Surendra Lal Das made Arya Sangeet the envy of many in the music world, and the practice of pure form of music, including Tagore’s songs became more popular with Rabindranath’s birth anniversary being observed there on a regular basis.

An illustrious son of Chittagong, Mahbubul Alam Chowdhury, who penned the first poem after student demonstrators demanding Bangla to be a state language were gunned down on the streets of Dhaka on 21 February, 1952, wrote in his memoirs “Smriti-r Sandhane” (In Search of Memory) that it was in 1944 that the first ever Rabindra Jayanti (Tagore’s birth anniversary celebration) was held in a grand manner in the city of Chittagong. The venue for the two-day celebration was the auditorium of St. Placid’s School in Patherghata. The driving forces behind this initiative were Chittagong’s District Judge Shaibal Gupta and his wife Ashoka Gupta. Tagore’s dance drama “Shyama” was staged on the second day, with Pratima Chowdhury performing in the title role, wrote Mahbubul Alam Chowdhury.

Soon, another music institution was formed in Chittagong when Gangapada Acharya, his brother Sripada Acharya, Shourindra Lal Dasgupta(Chulu Babu), Chunilal Sen came away from Arya Sangeet. They along with Shib Shankar Mitra established Sangeet Parishad which became another reputed institution imparting teaching of pure form of music.

Not long thereafter, Nani Mitra and Anil Mitra formed Prachcho Chanda Geetika, and these three music institutions regularly observed Tagore’s birth anniversary.

But, Udayan Sangha in Patherghata went a step or two further and observed the day differently. They used to observe the day in two sessions – the morning session being mainly the domain of the children, and the evening session for prominent artistes of Chittagong and guest artistes from Dhaka.

Dr Sanjida Khatun, the present head of the pioneering music institution of the country Chayanaut, clearly remembers the first time she came to Chittagong to participate in a Rabindra Jayanti.

“It was 1957 when my daughter was hardly four months old. We were put up in the house of Mr Sarat Kanungo, a great patron of culture, who used to have a number of Alsatian dogs, I had my daughter in my lap, and just when my turn came, I handed over my daughter to somebody, before going on to the stage”.

“Chittagong always had a great tradition and rich cultural heritage; unfortunately I have not been able to learn much about it”, lamented Dr Sanjida Khatun.

Apart from Dr Sanjida Khatun, other noted singers like her sister Fahmida Khatun, Kalim Sharafi, Maleka Azim and Atiqul Islam used to come to Chittagong to participate in Udayan Sangha’s Rabindra Jayanti.

The local artistes who had made their mark in Rabindra Sangeet in the 1950s and 1960s include Bilquis Nasiruddin, Hari Prasanna Pal, Ashok Sen, Rafiqul Islam, Mohammed Nasiruddin, Snehomoy Rakshit, Nirmal Mitra, Shikha Rani Das, Razia Shahid and Chamon Afroz Kamal.

Dr Sen thinks that the cultural arena of Chittagong was enriched and vastly improved in the 1950s and 1960s by the patronage it received from people in the legal profession and also from prominent educationists. As examples, Dr Sen named Advocates Krishna Prasad Nandy and Chitta Ranjan Das, and Professor Jogesh Chandra Shingha, Professor Abul Fazal and Abdus Sobhan Khan Chowdhury, who was the Principal of Government College of Commerce.

“They had taken the practice and promotion of Tagore culture to a much higher level”.

“The people of Chittagong were fortunate to have such stalwarts in their midst who could discuss various aspects of Tagore’s thoughts and philosophies so eloquently that the audience would listen to them in pin-drop silence in sheer amazement”, noted Dr Sen.

But, the real feather in the cap for Chittagong’s tryst with Tagore culture came in 1961, the year of the Nobel laureate’s birth centenary, when defying all threats from the then Pakistan government, who described Tagore as an Indian poet and his songs were being described as alien to the country’s culture, a seven-day programme was chalked out by the Tagore enthusiasts of Chittagong.

A 101-member celebration committee was formed with Mr M A Bari, the then chairman of Port Trust as President and Mr R N Bagchi, a top official of the Railways as Secretary.

Recalling the events of 1961, Professor Momtazuddin Ahmed, who at that time was a teacher in Government College of Commerce, Chittagong, said, “A huge pandal was erected in the compound of St. Placid’s School, Patherghata and thousands of people thronged the arena for seven days where 3 dance-dramas and three plays were staged apart from seminars and discussions”.

The stage was named after one of Tagore’s famous poems “Sonar Tori” and the entrance gate was called “Shyamoli”.

“Prominent among those who came from Dhaka to participate in the seminars were Dr Mohammad Shahidullah, Professor Ahmed Sharif, Professor Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury and Dr Nilima Ibrahim”, remembers Professor Ahmed.

The three top music institutions, Arya Sangeet, Sangeet Parishad and Prachcho Chanda Geetika staged the three dance-dramas Chitrangada, Shyama and Tasher Desh respectively.

Udayan Sangha and Shishu Mela jointly produced the inaugural day’s play “Rabindranath-er Chelebela” (The childhood of Tagore), where yours truly enacted the role of Satyaprasad, a nephew of Tagore of the same age. The directorial team consisted of Advocate Chitta Ranjan Das, Sadeque Nabi and Debu Chowdhury, a comedy actor of fame in those days.

Muktodhara Group was entrusted with staging Tagore’s play “Mukhtodhara”, directed by Dr Kamal A Khan. Professor Momtazuddin Ahmed played the role of Botu, and the wonderful performance of Mrs Moni Imam in the role of Awmbaa Paagli was remembered for a very long time.

The seven-day celebration, the like of which was seen nowhere else in then East Pakistan, was rounded up by the bard’s play “Shesh Rokhkha”, which was presented by Jagriti and directed by another noted theatre personality of Chittagong, Mahbub Hasan.

The seminars and discussions held during the 7-day celebration were equally impressive and enlightening.

Professor Jogesh Chandra Shingha dealt with the spiritual thoughts in Tagore’s poems. Prof. Shingha said Tagore raised himself above all hard-heartedness and in his poems one could find that he had been inspired as much by the teachings of the Upanishad as he was by Sufi’ism.

Dr Mohammad Shahidullah while impressing upon the depth of Tagore’s writings said that the poet’s creations had left a great legacy for the future generation. In the opinion of many cultural personalities, this pronouncement gave a clear direction for the cultural movement that was to follow.

Professor Abul Fazal very strongly expressed his feeling that no great poet could just be considered as ‘national poet’. By describing Rabindranath as India’s national poet and Iqbal as Pakistan’s, Abul Fazal said, one does not make them one iota greater than what they really are, rather it demeans them.

He said that in ‘Asrar-e Khuda’, which is considered to be the best writing of Iqbal, there is no mention of Pakistan or that state’s ideologies. Similarly, Tagore in his ‘Song Offerings’ which fetched him the Nobel prize for literature, does not heap any praise on India.

“The great poets have reached such stature because they have been able to cross the boundaries of country, nation and state”, said Abul Fazal.

To those who were opposing the practice of Tagore’s music in then East Pakistan, Abul Fazal boldly declared, “Our reverence is not to India’s national poet, it is to a great poet of this world, Tagore was one such poet”.

In the words of Professor Momtazuddin Ahmed, “The courage and devotion showed by the cultural activists of Chittagong gave an impetus to others in then East Pakistan and similar programmes, albeit on smaller scales, were held in Dhaka, Rajshahi and other places”.

Even after the centenary celebrations, the practice and teachings of Tagore’s music continued with a new vigour in Chittagong in the various renowned music institutions.

Added to that, “Shishu Mela”, a children’s group based in Patherghata, used to observe Rabindra Jayanti every year, with the only the children performing “Pujarini’ one year and ‘Juta Abishkaar’ in another. Shishu Mela was greatly patronised by Advocate Chitta Ranjan Das and his wife Putul Rani Das.

As regards the children’s observance of Rabindra Jayanti and his relationship with Chitta Ranjan Das and his sons and daughters, Mahbubul Alam Chowdhury in his memoirs “Smriti-r Sandhane” also wrote, “Shila Momen, Sharmila Bandopadhyay were my daughter Munni’s (Safina Ahmed) childhood friends. In the ‘60s, they used to observe Pahela Baishakh, Rabindra Jayanti, Nazrul Jayanti and other cultural events. They used to sing, dance, recite, and play the tabla and other instruments, not taking much help from the elders. At that time, the deputy commissioner of Chittagong was noted poet Abu Zafar Obaidullah Khan and the chairman of Chittagong Development Authority was Khan Shamsur Rahman. They used to come to the rehearsals to encourage the children”.

It is therefore quite evident that in Chittagong, in the words of Dr Anupam Sen, “With the patronage and support of the intelligentsia and the united effort of the cultural activists, the practice of Tagore culture was taken to a new height , which also continued after the liberation of Bangladesh”.

As Professor Abul Fazal so appositely said, “We have all been enlightened by the rays emanating from Rabi”.

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The writer is a senior journalist who worked for BBC World Service Radio in London and is presently based in Chittagong.