Bangla Ganasangit o Rabindra Sangit -  
One of the enduring mysteries in the history of Bengali song is the strange absence of Rabindra Sangit from the current/stream of Popular Bengali song. Popular song and folk song are often used synonymously, although they are far from that. Before entering the debate, therefore, one must clearly state the difference between these two. By Popular song we mean here – People’s Song. Let us elaborate its differences from the folk.
 
Famous People’s artist Hiren Bhattacharyya states that any song expressing the revolutionary spirit of the labouirng class must be treated as people’s song. It has, therefore, much wider range than the regional limitations of folk-song both in terms of tonal and thematic qualities. Paresh Dhar advances a step further in stating that People’s song must bear the intricacies of class conflict in modern India. He even suggests that bereft of class and revolutionary sensibilities a song can not become a People’s song. These definitions highlight three qualities of People’s song –
1. It is the song of revolution of the labouring class,
2. It is not restricted within the regional boundaries of folk song, hence international in character
3. It is the song of class struggle. This three-pronged statement therefore undermines the international appeal of People’s song –specially the Liberal Democratic ideology.
Hence the proliferation of this genre in the 40s – “In the 1942-3 season we first heard the emergence of a new genre in the history of Bengali song – the People’s Song” [Hemanga Biswas]. Hiren Bhattacharyya further adds that it is during this period that we first started to become initiated to other related terms as well – People’s Theatre, People’s Literature, People’s Art, People’s War and the term Democracy itself.
 
Now all these are historical facts. But does that mean there was nothing like People’s Song in the Pre-40s era? The pre- 40s was a transitional time – when India and Bengal was trying to emerge as a new independent nation and state from the intricate net of colonialism. The songs of Tagore , Dwijendralal Roy, Atulprasad, Rajanikanta, Mukunda Das, Najrul Islam composed numerous patriotic songs in a time of political and colonial unrest. The influence was immense as these songs assumed names after their composers – Dwijendragit, Najrulgiti, kantagiti, Atulprasadi etc. chart a completely new trajectory in terms of popular appeal and influence. The songs of these established bards on one side and the songs of local colour on the other [songs reflecting regional issues and sentiments like the issue of Nilbidroho] – these two strong currents merge to create the fertile ground for the proliferation of People’s Song.
 
People’s song has two principle axes - thematic and tonal. Thematically they were very close to the hearts of the people – particularly conveying Communist ideologies. But tonally they adopted the Western tune more and it is here that we talk about the importance of Rabindranath Tagore.
 
The People’s Song as a genre was guilty of neglecting regional and national tradition. This is queer since it risks alienating itself from the emotional core of the People. Naturally this is here Tagore scores way beyond since he grounds his songs right in the national spirit – in terms of theme, tune and linguistic combinations. Thematically he emphasized more on National and Human issues than the Ideological issues[“Banglar Mati, Bangla Jal” – “The soil and water of Bengal”, “O Amar Sonar Bangla, Ami Tomay Bhalobasi” – “O My Dear Land…”, “O Amar Desh-er Mati” – “O My Country”, “Sankotcher-o Biwhalata Nijer-I Apaman” – “The Insult of Shame ”, “Bartha Praner Abarjana Puriye Fele Agun Jalo” – “Light the fire of life and Burn away the Failed Life”], linguistically he did not experiment with Western or International structures and in terms of tune he preferred the folk [the Baul tradition in particular] and classical traditions.
 
Rabindra Sangit was not an alien to the Democratic Movement during its early years. Suchitra Mitra [One of the most famous exponents of Rabindra Sangit] speaks of her experience in the 40s:
“I used to sing at numerous gatherings and I know how profound was the impression of “Sarthak Janam Aamar Janmechhi Ei Deshe” [“Blessed is My life, that I’m the Child of this Soil”] on the audience”. Poyushkanti Sarkar is more straight forward – “I have always believed Rabindra Sangit can be the People’s song. What I need to do is transfer the message to the audience through my singing .”
 
Yet Rabindra Sangit was expelled from the popular stage because a large section of Communists [in most cases pseudo and/or blind] labeled him as a “Bourgeois Poet”. Especially the 60s was the culprit. They were ready to embrace Pit Seeger and Paul Robson - nothing wrong so far – but very much so when you do that at the cost of dumping your very own National Poet. This does not only threaten a reverse cultural colonization but is also contrary to the very spirit of People’s Party – upholding the culture and tradition of the people for the attainment of a better standard of life.
 
 

Close  | Print  | Home