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Music & lyrics of a freedom anthem

Updated on: 14 August,2010 06:39 AM IST  | 
Malini Banerjee |

On I-Day, Nalinee Madgavkar and her group Nabshruti will be interpreting Tagore's vision of liberation, with 14 of his immortal songs

Music & lyrics of a freedom anthem

On I-Day, Nalinee Madgavkar and her group Nabshruti will be interpreting Tagore's vision of liberation, with 14 of his immortal songs

On Independence Day in Kolkata, little girls will prance out of their homes wrapped in their mother's white and red taant saris, tricolour in hand, all ready to sing and dance to their heart's content at their schools and at para (Bengali for neighbourhood) programmes.



Excited aunties and grandmothers and a few enthusiastic uncles will be ready with their harmonium and a repertoire of deshattobodhok (patriotic) songs. Since it's Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary year, (his death anniversary was celebrated on August 7) it is perhaps even safe to assume most of the songs will be "Gurudev's" alone.

But displaced Bengalis need not suffer nostalgia in painful solitude. On Sunday morning, Nalinee Madgavkar with group of 18 performers called Nabashruti will be singing Rabindra Sangeet that will take you back to the sepia-toned Tollygunge Lane. Purists need not fear since 14 Rabindra Sangeets will be sung in Bengali (no faux Hindi translations) and for those not comfortable with the language, the gist will be read out in Hindi.

Mukti, explains Nalinee, is not just about death, which is what the word is often associated with. "Tagore's Mukti was the freedom he felt with nature, love, and even the more spiritual form of freedom that comes with embracing God," she explains in chaste Bengali. So there will be the popular Rabindra Sangeet, which is often associated with rains, Badal Baul as well as Amar Mukti Aloy Aloy talking about deliverance through nature and unity. The programme ends with a performance of the most well known Tagore song in the countryu00a0-- the National Anthem. "But it's not just the first stanza like most of know and sing it, we will sing all five stanzas," smiles Nalinee.


On August 15 at 10.15 am
At Prithvi Theatre, 20, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Vile Parle (W).
Call 26149546



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