Sometime in the sixties… Eminent artiste of Tagore songs from Bengal, Sagar Sen is performing in Rabindra Sadan… A grand occasion it is, and the programme is being recorded on video tape. So how does this relate to Geetaji…?
Thus were the audience in the first row of Rabindra Sadan, gracing the occasion that day – GEETA DUTT, Kanan Devi, Protima Banerjee, Debabrata Biswas and Ashoketaru Banerjee – some greatest stalwarts of the music of the era. Sagar Sen as expected continued to sing Tagore’s melodies, one after the other, in his usual amazing manner. The programme is about to end, and the artiste is about to sing one of his finest renditions ever – “AAJ JOTSNA-RAATE SOBAI GECHHE BONE, BASANTER EI MATAL SAMEERANE”…
SONG – AAJ JOTSNA-RAATE SOBAI GECHHE BONE
ARTISTE – SAGAR SEN
AAJ JOTSNA-RAATE SOBAI GECHHE BONE
BASANTER EI MATAL SAMEERANE.
JAABO NAA GO JAABO NAA JE, ROINU PORE GHORER MAJHE –
EI NIRALAY ROBO AAPON KONE.
JAABO NA EI MATAL SAMEERANE.
AMAR E GHOR BOHU JATON KORE
DHUTE HOBE MUCHHTE HOBE MORE.
AMARE JE JAAGTE HOBE, KI JAANI SE AASHBE KOBE
JODI AMAY PORE TAHAR MONE
BASANTER EI MATAL SAMEERANE.
This time he calls upon his senior artistes seated in front, to come up onstage so that the programme may end with a chorus performance of the song. Who knows with how loud an applause Rabindra Sadan may have reverberated on the proposal? Kanan Devi goes up… Followed by the rest, but Geetaji is still seated. Sagar Sen speaks out, “Geetadi, aapnio aashun” (Geetadi, you too, please come). The nightingale goes up onstage. The historic programme ends with the six stalwarts singing Tagore’s “AAJ JOTSNA-RAATE SOBAI GECHHE BONE, BASANTER EI MATAL SAMEERANE”…
Kanan Devi speaks a few words, before the programme finally concludes.
No, this was not what I saw (rather, I had the fortune to see). On the night of September 22nd, 2012, Doordarshan Kolkata broadcasted a programme, the viewers of which saw this historic event happening! A teacher of mine, who had the opportunity to watch it, gave me a vivid description of the programme… Such was it!
Was it a programme recorded by Doordarshan? Tushar Bhatiaji, with whom I shared the above a few weeks ago comments, it may have been recorded by someone in private earlier, reasoning that Doordarshan came to Bombay in 1972 and even later, in Calcutta – when Geetaji is no more. Tusharji says (if I may share his view that he shared with me through personal message) – “I’ll give my life to see this one!” Perhaps he spoke out the heart of the millions of admirers of Geeta Dutt and her music, all over the world!
It is our misfortune that Doordarshan does not share any recordings from their archives in personal with anyone… Waiting for that holy day when the programme would be broadcasted again and someone would be recording it from television!
Acknowledgements:
We are grateful to our dear friend Sounak Gupta for writing this special article for us on this special occasion.
