Jodi tor dak shune keu na ashe tobe ekla cholo re…
Rana Kumar Sinha had always been keen on the cultural aspects of life and became an activist in the late 1970s. The Sylhet-based Rabindra Sangeet singer took a path that made him out-of-place in his own community when he was young. Small towns tend to have closed and conservative communities. And we must acknowledge that it takes a lot of courage for someone from those apparently protective communities to tread a path that is essentially different from the ones that the majority takes.
When Sinha got involved in cultural activism in the years following the independence, people gave him strange, sidelong glances. Some even ridiculed him. However, according to Sinha, there have been a lot of positive changes in the society and the prospects are changed now.
Sinha is now a renowned Rabindra Sangeet singer in Sylhet. He also runs a cultural organisation called Anandalok. As a teacher of Rabindra Sangeet, he finds the enthusiasm of his students “very optimistic.”
He says: “Most of those who come to learn Rabindra Sangeet are students of universities or medical colleges. Girls and boys are equally interested to learn these timeless songs.”
Giving an example of what it was like to work for a better cultural environment in Sylhet, Sinha recalled that only a handful of people cared to celebrate ‘Nabo Barsho’ (Bangla New Year). When his organisation Anandalok celebrated the Bangla New Year 1401, people watched him from a distance and laughed with incredulity.
“I gave away traditional Bengali delicacies like moa and moorki to people who so much as came to us to figure out what was going on,” remembers Sinha.
However, in his opinion, over the last four-five years, the efforts of several cultural organisations have brought about a lot of positive changes in the society.
Not only is the Bengali New Year celebrated through elaborate programmes, but also the birth and death anniversaries of Rabindranath and other great poets and writers are also observed now. However, Sinha informs that due to Ramadan, the death anniversary of Rabindranath will not be observed with cultural events this year.
“There’s no denying that Rabindranath’s works have a universal appeal,” Sinha says. He also believes that the urge in people that attract them to Rabindra Sangeet and makes them receptive to new ideas is always there. All that is needed to do is to trigger that urge and create a sustainable cultural platform.
-With The Daily Star input
