Prominent Bengali Folk band, Dohar of Kolkata, enthralled the audience at the Sai Sabhagruha auditorium here on Sunday evening.
The programme was jointly organised by Saraswat Sabha Library, Bengali Association and the Bengali Education Society to mark the library’s centenary year celebration that started from last year and concluded with the musical programme of Bengali folk band, Dohar.
The young team of the folk band presented the songs of the soil of Bengal, held the Nagpur audience spellbound for over two hours by rendering some hit folk songs, like Tomra Kunjo Sajao Go (Shah Abdul Karim), Ami Takdum Takdum Bajai Bangladesher Dhol (SD Burman), Shuhag chand bodoni dhoni nacho to dekhi bala nacho to dekhi (traditional Sylhet song), Milon hobe koto dine (Lalon faqir) and Praaner Maanush Aachhe Praane (Rabindranath Tagore).
The musical programme highlighted some of Bangladesh and India’s biggest poets, with Dohar performing Hason Raja’s Ki Ghor Banaibo Ami Shunner-o Majhare, Loke Bole, and Abbasuddin Ahmed’s Allah Megh De, Paani De. Each song was presented with some background or an anecdote. Dohar then drifted their performance outside the confines of Bengal, and performed a song from Kamrup (Assam), Maai Tui Jole Naa Jaiyo. As Dohar played, their faces reflected the kind of pure joy that making music brought to their hearts.
It was the first musical show of Dohar band in Nagpur. The leader singer of the band, Rajib Das, who has taken over the reins of popular Bangla folk band after the tragic death of their lead vocalist Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya in a road accident a couple of years ago, also connected the audience during their performance. Rajib apart, Dohar mates who took to the stage were singers Sudipta, Amit Sur and Rishi Chakaraborty, percussionists Mriganabhi Chattopadhyay and Satyajit Sarkar, flautist Rittwik Guchhait and Sarinda player Niranjan Halder. Founded in 1999, Dohar, which worked extensively to collect and preserve folk music and instruments, has been enthralling audiences across the globe for the last two decades.
Artists were welcomed by offering bouquets by General Secretary of Bengali Education Society, Pradip Ganguly, President of Saraswat Sabha Library, Dr Tapan Chakraborti, and President of Bengali Association, Pradip Kumar Maitra.
Earlier, an eminent Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr Sajal Mitra, was felicitated at the hands of former Director of NEERI and President of Bengali Education Society and Saraswat Sabha Library, Dr Tapan Chakraborti for his recent appointment as the Dean of the government medical college and hospital, Nagpur. Similarly, his brother, Dr Kajal Mitra, who is the dean of Lata Mangesh Medical College and hospital, was also felicitated at the hands of President of Bengali Association, Pradip Kumar Maitra, on the occasion.
A Puja souvenir-cum-House Magazine of Bengali Association named ‘Uttaran’ in which creative Bengali writers of the city contributed with their writings was released on this occasion. A rich tribute was also paid to late Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya, the founder of the band, who was one of the leading faces of Bangla folk music and research, and had dedicated his life to the arts and its appreciation and preservation.
The programme was aptly compared by Debjani Ray Gupta.
