The national capital did not pay much attention to Rabindranath Tagore’s 70th death anniversary on Monday, 8 August, but in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made up for that by “celebrating” the poet’s death. She launched a year-long programme on that day to mark his 150th birth anniversary. Tagore’s birthday was on 9 May, but the Left Front government was in power in West Bengal at the time.
Trinamool Congress MPs’ plea for a holiday in both Houses of Parliament was turned down by Speaker Meira Kumar, who said that Parliament did not have a tradition of commemorating death anniversaries. “The Speaker has asked us to celebrate Tagore’s birth anniversary. We are discussing how to organise it in Parliament by month-end,” Trinamool Congress’ Saugata Roy, Minister of State for Urban Development, told The Sunday Guardian.
The Central government organised two functions in the national capital to remember the poet. The Ministry of Culture organised a programme of music and poetry at the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
It was inaugurated by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Culture Minister Kumari Selja and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi. The ministry also organised a seminar, “Remembering Rabindranath Tagore” at the Lalit Kala Akademi, to highlight the diverse aspects of Tagore’s vision, creativity, and contribution.
The Geetanjali Troupe, a non government cultural organisation, staged a dance drama, Shrabandhara, at the Sriram Centre Auditorium, leaving a group of students wondering what the function was all about. “Oh, I didn’t know it is Tagore’s death anniversary,” said one student sitting outside the auditorium.
S.N. Banerjee, one of the organisers, said, “Delhi has not forgotten Tagore. But it is not appropriate to ‘celebrate’ someone’s death. For the first time in history grand celebrations were held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for his birth anniversary in May. That was our biggest achievement.”
The Sriram Centre function presented odes written by Tagore dedicated to the monsoons.
In Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee took to the streets with thousands of schoolchildren, singing Rabindrasangeet. She urged Finance Minister Amit Mitra to sing a song when she saw him humming with the crowd and asked Higher Education Minister Bratya Basu to announce another holiday the next day for schoolchildren who had braved the rain to participate in the street celebrations.
In the evening, cultural luminaries were invited for a musical soiree at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.
All this was a clear departure from the sombre mood of earlier years. But then the Chief Minister had promised that she would celebrate the poet’s birthday on Baishey Srabon (22 Sravan, 8 August), the day he passed away in 1941.
The national capital did not pay much attention to Rabindranath Tagore's 70th death anniversary on Monday, 8 August, but in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made up for that by "celebrating" the poet's death. She launched a year-long programme on that day to mark his 150th birth anniversary. Tagore's birthday was on 9 May, but the Left Front government was in power in West Bengal at the time.
Trinamool Congress MPs' plea for a holiday in both Houses of Parliament was turned down by Speaker Meira Kumar, who said that Parliament did not have a tradition of commemorating death anniversaries. "The Speaker has asked us to celebrate Tagore's birth anniversary. We are discussing how to organise it in Parliament by month-end," Trinamool Congress' Saugata Roy, Minister of State for Urban Development, told The Sunday Guardian.
The Central government organised two functions in the national capital to remember the poet. The Ministry of Culture organised a programme of music and poetry at the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
It was inaugurated by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Culture Minister Kumari Selja and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi. The ministry also organised a seminar, "Remembering Rabindranath Tagore" at the Lalit Kala Akademi, to highlight the diverse aspects of Tagore's vision, creativity, and contribution.
The Geetanjali Troupe, a non government cultural organisation, staged a dance drama, Shrabandhara, at the Sriram Centre Auditorium, leaving a group of students wondering what the function was all about. "Oh, I didn't know it is Tagore's death anniversary," said one student sitting outside the auditorium.
S.N. Banerjee, one of the organisers, said, "Delhi has not forgotten Tagore. But it is not appropriate to 'celebrate' someone's death. For the first time in history grand celebrations were held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for his birth anniversary in May. That was our biggest achievement."
The Sriram Centre function presented odes written by Tagore dedicated to the monsoons.
In Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee took to the streets with thousands of schoolchildren, singing Rabindrasangeet. She urged Finance Minister Amit Mitra to sing a song when she saw him humming with the crowd and asked Higher Education Minister Bratya Basu to announce another holiday the next day for schoolchildren who had braved the rain to participate in the street celebrations.
In the evening, cultural luminaries were invited for a musical soiree at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.
All this was a clear departure from the sombre mood of earlier years. But then the Chief Minister had promised that she would celebrate the poet's birthday on Baishey Srabon (22 Sravan, 8 August), the day he passed away in 1941.
Shared by-line with Susenjit Guha on 14 August in The Sunday Guardian.
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