>‘Nazrul’s literature is enriched with folk'

‘Nazrul’s literature is enriched with folk'

Palash Biswas

Last evening, Gosto kanan ladies organized a Rabindra Nazrul Evening in Sodepur, Kolkata-700110. Since Sabita, my wife was amongs the organizers , I had to witness the event. It is good that not only in Sodepur, all over bengal , the locals celebratedfNazrul Jayanti remembering the great company of Nazrul and rabindra.

Thus, nationality Bengali is surviving.

Since, we belong to North India, this means a lot for us.

ladies and children of Sodepur celebrated the evening with rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Sangeet, Dandce and recitation. Sabita Biswas, Ananya roychowdhari, Mala roychowdhari, Munmun dutta, Saumi dutta, Rahki Bardhan, who is a punjabi lady, mauli das, Soma nath and others sang. Saumi`s solo performance was amazing.

Maumit Saxena, Paramita Dutta Adhikari and rakesh danced.

A child artist AHANA DAS thrilled us with her recitasion. Tulika nath, Somdutta, Mrignabhi and a number of children performed so well, that we enjoyed the evening amidst a mild storm and showers!



‘Nazrul’s literature is enriched

with folk elements’

Robab Rosan


Nazrul’s literature is enriched with folk elements. He collected the elements from the rural people and used the elements in his own way. The poet in his younger life was involved with a group of folk singers called ‘Letor Dal’.

His experience with the folk singers influenced his later life as a poet. Not only his songs, the poet’s short stories, plays and the novel ‘Mrityukhudha’ are based on folk tradition.

The speakers stated at the seminar on the folk elements in Nazrul’s literature organised by the Bangla Academy on Sunday.

Distinguished Nazrul researcher Asadul Haque and top musicologist Dr Karunamaya Goswami addressed the seminar. Eminent Nazrul scholar Professor Rafiqul Islam chaired the function and the director general of Bangla Academy Professor Syed Mohammad Shahed delivered welcome address.

Asadul Haque said Nazrul Islam was very close to the common people and he adopted the aboriginal and traditional tunes for his songs. ‘Nazrul has created new tunes taking elements from the traditional tunes of the ethnic communities of the different parts of the undivided India,’ he said.

According to the researcher, Nazrul had composed 49 songs based on baul tunes; 86 songs on bhatiali; 67 on jhumur and two songs on bhawaiya. ‘I hope the young researchers will extensively research on the influence of folk elements on Nazrul’s literature, particularly on songs,’ he added.

Dr Karunamaya Goswami said that Nazrul was deeply influenced by the folk tradition as he was involved in the groups of folk singers in his younger days.

‘The poet was very much sympathetic to the common people. He wrote and worked for the rights of the common people. He used the folk elements in his literature consciously and naturally,’ said Goswami.

He further said that besides the songs of Nazrul, his prose and poetry were influenced by myths and legends.

‘Nazrul, particularly in his plays and short stories, used the traditional faiths of common people. Among his short stories, ‘Gener Badshah’ and play ‘Madhubala’ are based on folk elements,’ he added.

Professor Rafiqul Islam said that Nazrul’s songs, which were based on folk tunes, are very popular among the listeners.

Giving the examples of the songs, ‘Nadir nam soi Anjana,’ and ‘Padmar dheo re’, Professor Islam said, ‘These songs, based on folk tradition, are very popular among all types of audience.’

‘Nazrul saw the life of common people at close quarters and himself hailed from a poor family. For this reason, the poet was able to depict the feelings of the common people in his literature,’ he added.

The academy’s director general Professor Syed Mohammad Shahed said that Nazrul is a poet of all communities, irrespective of caste, creed and colour.

The discussion was followed by a soiree of Nazrul songs. Top singers of Nazrul songs, Khalid Hossain, Ferdous Ara, Fatima-tuz-Zohra, Shaheen Samad, Sujit Mustafa and Lina Tapasi sang at the programme among others. The singers sang popular Nazrul songs, especially, the songs based on folk tunes.

The signers were accompanied by Mohammad Shahjahan and Rabindra Pal on the tabla, Firoze Khan on the sitar, Sayeed Hossain on the keyboards and Almas Ali on the violin.