Festival in Shelidah on Tagore's Nobel Prize centennial

Artistes perform to a receptive audience.Photo: STAR

A day long festival on the occa-sion of 100 years of Geetanjali, Tagore's Nobel Prize winning literary work was held at Kuthibari at Shelidah on Friday.
Atandra Ekattor of Bangladesh and Friends of Bangladesh of India organised the programme.
The programme included recitation of Tagore poems, presentation of Tagore songs and a pitha festival.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith inaugurated the programme.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu; Food Minister Dr. Abdur Razzak; advisor to the Prime Minister on foreign affairs Gowher Risvi and Deputy High Commissioner of India, Dhaka Sandeep Chakrabarti addressed the programme as special guests.
A discussion by Professor Hasan Azizul Haq, Professor Sanat Kumar Shaha and Shubho Prasanna Bhattacharjee marked the event.
Among others, Vice-Chancellor, Dhaka University, Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, journalist Abed Khan and cultural activist Nasiruddin Yousuff addressed the gathering.
Poet Belal Choudhury presided over the occasion.
Kuthibari was decorated with colourful banners and festoons. Artistes from India and Bangladesh performed at the event.
In his speech, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Rabindranath's work continues to inspire people.
The other speakers termed Tagore as a multi-faceted genius. His Geetanjali contains Tagore's philosophy of life, they asserted.
They went on to add that Tagore's ability to play on words and create rhymes from ordinary everyday happenings was unparalleled.