Written by Aakriti Bhalla
Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) is organising an event ‘Shata Kanthe Gitanjali (Gitanjali in a 100 voices)’ to mark the 157th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, in which a 100-member choir will recite poems from Tagore’s collection Gitanjali. The event will be be part of Sandhya Baitalik, a cultural event organised by Lalit Kala Kendra of SPPU and cultural organisation Upasana, on May 6 from 6 pm at Angaan Manch of Lalit Kala. “Tagore has given the country a separate music genre called Rabindra Sangeet that originated in Bengal. Through this celebration of his music, students of Lalit Kala Kendra, most of whom are from Maharashtra, would get an opportunity to experiment with a new form of music. This is an apt way to honour Tagore’s legacy,” says Professor Praveen Bhole, head, Lalit Kala, SPPU.
The event Shata Kanthe Gitanjali has been choreographed and coordinated by Nilanjan Bhattacharya and Iradan Haldar of Upasana. In this act, of five songs and two poems, one song and one poem from Gitanjali would also be sung in Marathi. “The spirit of Tagore is reflected in people from all walks of life and it crosses barriers of language. The choir of 100 singers will include not just Bengali-speaking people but also native speakers of Marathi, Malayalam and Hindi. Even being learnt in classical music is not a bar, all music enthusiasts are welcome to celebrate Rabindra Sangeet,” Sharmila Mazumdar, founder, Upasana.
The three-hour event will include special performances of songs, recitation and dance by members of various classical music groups from Pune and outside like Geetomanjari School from Mumbai. Students of Lalit Kala will also perform a special adaptation of Tagore’s work into classical and regional genres of music. Meritorious students from the university will also be felicitated by Rabindra Puraskar.