Celebrating Tagore in every sphere
Top: Kalim Sharafi was honoured with a lifetime achievement award by Channel i at this year’s “Rabindra Mela.”Bottom Left: Hashem Khan paints on the theme “Tagore.” Bottom Right: Artistes of Sur-er Dhara stage “Tasher Desh.”Photo: Mumit M.
Perhaps it would not be an overstatement to say that Bengali culture would be incomplete without Rabindranath Tagore. Yesterday marked the 148th birth anniversary of the Nobel laureate poet. To celebrate the day, Channel i held a daylong “Rabindra Mela” at its Tejgaon office premises. This was the fourth “Rabindra Mela” by Channel i.
“The objective is to remember Tagore on his birth anniversary and to pay homage to the great poet,” said Faridur Reza Sagor, managing director of Impress Telefilm Ltd and Channel i. “The programme is aired live, so people across the globe can join the celebration,” Sagor added.
The mela began at 10:05 am with a group performance by artistes of Sur-er Dhara. Members of the organisation rendered “Akash bhora shurjo tara.”
Veteran Tagore singer and exponent Kalim Sharafi was honoured with a lifetime achievement award by Channel i. As part of the award, Kalim Sharafi will receive Tk 10,000 every month. Sharafi was presented a crest, an 'uttorio' and a cheque for Tk 1,20,000 at the programme. Shykh Seraj, head of News, Channel i, handed over the crest; Tagore artiste Rezwana Chowdhury Bonnya presented Sharafi with the 'uttorio.'
Throughout the day, cultural organisations and artistes performed songs, dance, poetry recitation and more. Group performances were presented by Protiti, Rabirashmi, Nibedan, Rabiraag, Udichi, Geetanjali, Dhrubotaan, Boitalik and Shurtirtha.
Artistes of Nrityam and Spondon staged dance performances. Poet Nirmalendu Guun, Pijush Bandopadhyay, Kazi Arif and others recited poems.
Mita Haque, Salma Akbar, Shoma Roy, Azizur Rahman, Mohammad Sharful Islam, Lili Islam, Fahim Hossain Chowdhury, Sajed Akbar, Naima Ali and others performed Rabindra Sangeet.
A musical based on Tagore's “Tasher Desh” was staged by Sur-er Dhara. The performance was directed by Rezwana Chowdhury Bonnya and choreography was by Tamanna Rahman.
The mela was well attended by leading writers, Tagore exponents, poets, artists and more. Artists -- Hashem Khan, Abdul Mannan, Monirul Islam, Shahed Kabir, Shahabuddin, Farida Zaman, and others attended the programme and painted on the theme, “Tagore.” A painting competition for youngsters was also held.
A total of 19 well-decorated stalls were set up at the venue. Books containing literary works of Tagore were on display. One stall featured reproductions of Tagore's artworks and paintings. Some rare collections of gramophone records of Tagore songs recorded by Lata Mangeshkar, Suchita Mitra, Sachin Dev Burman, Debabrata Biswas, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and other legendary singers were on display. However, some of the stalls had nothing to do with Tagore or his works.
The mela ended at 5 pm. The daylong event was aired live on Channel i.
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