Connecting with the soul

Melodious rendering

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The concert was presented by ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ exponents Manoj Murali and Manisha Murali Nair, who hail from Shantiniketan, Kolkata.

The brother-sister duo, Manoj Murali and Manisha Murali Nair, who were brought up in Shantiniketan surrounded by Tagore’s vision and legacy, performed Rabindra Sangeet with such great passion that the crowd present, despite the heavy rain, was enthralled by the soulful music. Manoj Murali and Manisha were accompanied by Sumit Guho on tabla, Auronab Chatterjee on the keyboard and Sandeep Ganguly on the violin. This was their first ever performance in the City.

They said they were extremely honoured to perform in celebration of the birth anniversary of the great poet, who has composed more than 2,000 songs with themes depicting nature, life, patriotism, love for mankind, etc.

Rabindra Sangeet is considered as world music and soul music as it features a combination of music styles like folk tunes, Baul, Kirtan, devotional songs, etc. According to Manoj Murali, “Rabindra Sangeet is contemporary music which connects right to the soul as its lyrics speak about every sphere of life. Even if a person listens to it innumerable times, each time will be a new experience. These days, we try to add a twist to ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ by using instruments like violin and keyboard to complement the catchy tune of songs in Rabindra Sangeet so as to reach out to the youth.”

This was especially apparent when the duo started the performance and the audience, which included people of all age groups, immersed themselves into the music. Their recitals included seasonal songs depicting the advent and the culmination of the four seasons, devotional songs, those from Tagore’s Geetanjali, patriotic songs, tunes which fused Rabindra Sangeet with songs from South India and Scotland. There were also songs from dance dramas like Shama Chitrangada and Tasher Desh.

Runu Roy, a member of the Bengalee Association, said, “It is a very special evening, because Manoj and Manisha have come all the way from Shantiniketan to spread
the essence of Tagore in the City through Rabindra Sangeet and it is wonderful that two South Indians are singing in fluent Bengali.’’ The musical evening ended on a very soulful note, leaving the audience content.