Kolkata artistes commemorate Raja Rammohan's 250th birth anniversary

The 250th birth anniversary of Raja Rammohan Roy was commemorated recently through a programme called Bhabo Shei Eke (Think of the One). This was one of the first such musical tributes to the 'great man'. Brahma Sangeet is the primary way of offering prayers in the religion founded by Raja Rammohan. It was he who had predetermined the path and progress of Brahma Sangeet.
One of the organisers and the performer for the evening, Rina Dolon Bandyopadhyay, said, "We have heard some of these rare songs but the presentation of 11 songs on a single platform was a first of its kind. Since much of the dialect of the songs has been derived from the old language of East Bengal, Rupa Chatterjee explained the substance of the songs in English. Aniruddha Sanyal, who has a few documentaries on Raja Rammohan to his credit, gave an enriching speech on him. Aniruddha Rakshit, the secretary of the Bhawanipur Brahma Samaj, was mesmerising in his narration. The two of them were enlightening and invigorating. The audience was transported to the world of Rammohan. Accompanied by Subrata Mukherjee, Debasish Halder on sarangi and Pandit Biplob Mondal on tabla, the programme became ethereal. The songs opened the audience to another vista with the fact that Rammohan was a predecessor to Rabindranath in his creation of music."
Rina Dolon quite naturally commanded the presence of the audience and later recalled, "They never thought of leaving the show in between. My relentless research on Raja Rammohan and my unstoppable conviction that I can do it contributed to the roaring success of the programme."
The interlude from Rita Bhimani, who is in Europe, was equally enriching. "Her belief and faith in my talent is an accolade in itself," Rina shared.
Rina Dolon also paid tribute to her Guruma, Shukla Dasgupta, who had dreamt "that a woman would be the songstress" and had conceptualised this programme. She acknowledged the enrichment received from her father and eminent singer, Durga Das Bandopadhyay, who was gifted "Yugogeeti" by Ramesh Chandra Bandopadhyay.