Remembering Tagore through his works

Great man

The cultural extravaganza started with the inauguration of an art exhibition on the life and works of Tagore. Says Runu Roy, the cultural secretary of the Bengalee Association, on the importance of the events, “This is a reminder to all of us about the greatness of the person that was Tagore. He was a versatile person who dabbled in writing poetry, composing music and painting pictures and we aim to bring out all these through the various events planned for the next twenty-five days.”

The exhibition saw participation from various people and was inaugurated by Captain G R Gopinath and Sudha Murthy.

The items on display at the venue included the poems written by Tagore, his family tree, pictures of him with different influential people from across the globe and also the pictorial representation of his poems.

This was followed by a one hour dance recital called Chandalika, based on a short story by Tagore about the daughters of the untouchable women in Bengal.

The drama, performed by the youth members, effectively brought out the message to the fore that every human being should be given respect and nobody is untouchable.

On the third day, a one hour documentary directed by the renowned film-maker Satyajit Ray on Rabindranath Tagore was shown. This short film focussed on the different events and influences that shaped Tagore’s life. Backed by articulate narration and apt background music, the film captured the essence and the mood, and every member of the audience could relate to the succession of events in the movie.

Says Debottam, a working professional, “The way the movie integrated the various incidents is commendable. There are several documentaries made on the great person, but none of them was able to bring out the actual persona of Tagore to the fore. This truly stands out as the best.” Even his friend, Ritika, a scientific analyst, agrees, “This kind of documentaries are very rare to watch. The way all the events were put together in a flawless manner needs a special mention.” Many others in the crowd shared the same opinion.

Apart from this, a three-part movie called ‘Teen Kanya’ was also screened. This was based on the short stories written by Tagore. The first part called ‘Manihara’ was about a woman and her love for jewellery. The second movie was ‘Postmaster’ based on a small girl who was a helper to a postmaster. The third part ‘Samapti’ delved into the life of a young girl who married at a young age. All these movies were in Bengalee language but had English subtitles.