12/28/2023 0 Comments Voyage trend 1.6 2013 vermelho fhash“All the songs had melodies which were given by Tagore,” said Soumik. (Incidentally, the recorded album doesn’t feature all the same personnel). There was a live band performing alongside consisting of six musicians, including the Mercury nominee pianist, Zoe Rahman vocalist, Chiranjit Chakraborty Soumik Datta, on sarod flutist, Shammi Pithia drummer, Eddie Hick and tabla player, Sandy Man. These poems were then re-read in Hindi by Akhtar, then the first or second lines were sung in Bengali by Sangeeta, and then finally the Hindi version of the song was sung. The concept of the evening was to have the poems read in English, by a glittering array of Asian women in saris, beginning with actor, activist, (and Akhtar’s wife) Shabana Azmi, then academic, Mukulika Banerjee and story-teller, Seema Anand, as well as Sangeeta’s younger son (Souvid – who incidentally recites brilliantly). You have to be as innocent, and as simple as the lyric is and this process gave me a lot of peace, solace and some kind of hope”. He explained that as a professional writer you tend to use ‘craft’ to write, but working on Tagore’s poetry was another kind of experience, as ‘Gurudev’ (a term of much endearment and respect) was “saying heart wrenching things in the most simple language, and the lyrics couldn’t be translated by cleverness – by craft, you have to feel that pain, and you have to feel that joy. It is produced by Baithak UK, a nonprofit making organisation.Īt the Q&A afterwards, Akhtar explained that the task was “overwhelming, because the name of the person overwhelms you”. The fruit of their efforts is a CD called, “ Anant”, which is a collection of Tagore’s songs and poems, translated into Hindi by Akhtar and sung by Sangeeta Datta, with music (as written by Tagore) but arranged by her son, the musician and sarod player, Soumik Datta. It was surely a portent – the words of this great Bengali polymath were about to be unleashed into the world, especially since the reason for my visit to the Town Hall was to hear a ‘live’ rendition of some of his poetry translated into Hindi and performed by a band.Īll this is the brainchild of Sangeeta Datta, a filmmaker and writer, who roped in the Indian poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar to translate the work with a measure of his own expertise and poise. It was a little homily (as I believe many underground stations are now wont to give passengers, especially since their service often leaves time for unexpected contemplation), that read: “Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in a different time,” attributed to the great man himself.Īnd in ironic way, typical of the great man’s prescience, Tagore knew that his work would have resonance and touch people in a hundred years or more from when he wrote. However, in slight relief to Shakespeare, Tagore was not just a ‘writer’, he was also a more prolific poet, lyricist and composer and his huge legacy continues to inspire and enthral.Īs I made my way from South London to the hallowed portals of Hampstead Town Hall to hear a new musical interpretation of Tagore’s work, I saw a sign posted on a white board at my tube station. The first Nobel Laureate from Asia, awarded one for his literary output in 1913, is as much an institution as an icon and a figure of continuing inspiration. RABINDRANATH TAGORE is to Indians (and Bangladeshis), what William Shakespeare is to the English. A group of talented musicians, a Bengali singer and one of India’s most famous contemporary poets and lyricists all joined forces to bring the work of Rabindranath Tagore to a wider UK audience…
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