Reflections

We Bengalis are sometimes accused of being inordinately proud of our cultural accomplishments and in particular, of raising Rabindranath Tagore to the level of an unchallengeable icon. I was fortunately in Calcutta and Siliguri during the run up to the 150th birth anniversary of the Poet and managed to catch many of the programmes on TV and elsewhere organized as a part of these celebrations. Reflecting on Tagore, I realize that he was exceptional. I am fortunate that I can read English and am reasonably familiar with English literature. I do read Spanish literature in translation and have a nodding acquaintance with most major literary figures. It was Tagore’s misfortune (and our enormous good fortune) that he wrote in Bengali. This made him inaccessible to most of the European audience which moulded opinion and he was not translated as well as he should have. For this, he himself has to shoulder some of the blame as his own translations left something to be desired. However in recent...

2011 has started badly for all Bengalis and lovers of Bengali culture. Yesterday, Suchitra Mitra, one of the greatest exponents of Rabindrasangeet passed away. It was not entirely unexpected as she was 86 years old. Apparently she suffered a cardiac arrest while having her lunch and died at home before any medical help could be summoned. The present status of Rabindrasangeet as the undisputed top of the pops in Bengal often conceals the fact that this was not always so. One of the group of singers who brought Tagore’s songs to every Bengali household and made them a part of Bengali existence was Suchitra Mitra. She was educated in Santiniketan, but she made Calcutta her karmabhoomi and her school Rabitirtha was one of the important centres for the propagation and popularization of Rabindrasangeet. She was beautiful, extraordinarily so, and had an imperious bearing; in later years the shock of silver hair which crowned her added to the distinguished look for which she was famous. We wer...