Rabindrasangeet I like

It was winter of 1996. Cable TV had made entry into our household then. We were slowly getting used to plethora of channels. One late night I was watching Star Movies. Suddenly a Rabindrasangeet started while an English movie began. It was “Majhhe Majhe Tobo dekha pai” sung mellifluously by recently departed Ritu Guha. The backdrop was fitting well with the song. A young lady was waiting at a port to meet his beloved. In the distant sea we see a ship approaching towards the port. Now we hear the soulful strains of that Rabindra sangeet exemplifying the feeling of the lady…..Majhe majhe tabo dekha pai, chirodin keno paina…Keno megh ashe hridoy akashe tomare dekhite dei na……..(Why don’t I see you more often ? Why don’t I see you forever? Why the clouds eclipse you inside the sky of my soul?)………The song stayed with me forever…..The movie was ‘Island ‘by Australian director Paul Cox.

I associate my favourite Rabindrasangeets with people. I learnt ‘Ganer surer asonkhani’ from my mother, Sadhana Chatterji in class VII which I never forgot. She was very particular about the tune and notations because she was a trained singer. Three songs ‘Jene shune tobu bhule achi’ , ‘Amar ja ache ta sokoli dite parini tomai’ and ‘Hridoye tomar daya jeno pai’ by her are unforgettable. She sang them with heart.

Harisadhan Dasgupta, India’s pioneering documentary filmmaker was my room partner in SSKM hospital of Kolkata. He narrated a tragic incident of his life associated with a Rabindrasangeet. His brother Bulu Dasgupta died of a lightning strike when filming ‘Panchthupi’ in a Murshidabad village. He brought his dead body back to Kolkata in his car. All the while he was singing ‘Keno chokher jol e bhijie dile na sukno dhula joto’ wishing that his brother will come to life! He sang this song to me and I remember him whenever I hear it.

I will end with other personal favorites 'Amar Bela je jai sanjh belate' and ‘Diner seshe ghumer deshe ghomta pora oi chhaya’. My maternal grandfather Dr. Murari Mohon Mukherjee used to put me to sleep singing thiese. I was raised by him. I always  asked him their  meaning. He used to say “You will understand this when you grow up”. He was right. With advancing age  I realize we will all go to ‘Diner seshe ghumer deshe….’ someday!