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Self expression through Tagore songs

Professor Anisur Rahman shares his views

KARIM WAHEED
Professor Anisur Rahman is a noted Tagore exponent. He is known for his unique approach to rendering Tagore songs. He believes in "less is more" and hence when he performs, he often has just a violin and a sitar for sangat (accompaniment). Through his unorthodox presentation and conscious efforts to convey the message of the songs, he has won the hearts of many -- both masses and critics. When he feels that there is a lack of "competent" trainers of Tagore songs both in our country and West Bengal, it has some gravity.
What exactly does Rahman imply by "competent" trainers? According to him, "Efficiency of a trainer cannot be measured merely by his/her skills as an artiste. A topnotch artiste usually teaches the students how he/she sings a certain song, which is not necessarily what a student needs to evolve. One needs the freedom of expression while singing to develop uniqueness. Otherwise, every student would turn out to be 'Xerox' copies of the trainer and that's exactly what's happening in most cases.
"A true teacher would explain the message of a certain song and let the students express themselves.
I'm not sure why the trainers repeatedly emphasise on teaching the tunes of songs. One can find all the tunes in Geeto Bitan. Most trainers of Tagore songs don't realise that by confining their students to render the songs the same way they do, only impairs the potentials of the aspiring singers. And that is tragic. Besides a carbon copy can never be as good as the original."
Rahman continues, "I remember late Nilufar Yasmeen singing at a programme. She performed songs of different genres including songs of Nazrul, DL Roy, Atul Prasad. Needless to say, she did a fantastic job. However, she didn't perform a single song of Tagore. I was somewhat disheartened and I asked her whether she cared enough for Tagore songs to perform them. Nilufar told me she deeply admired Tagore's creation, so much so that books by Kobiguru always accompanied her in bed. Yet she would rather not perform songs of Tagore, as she was afraid that she might not be able to perform the songs unerringly. Can you imagine an artiste of Nilufar's stature questioning her ability?
"Some 'pundits' have created this illusion that Tagore's songs are rigid and there is no place for selfexpression. I understand their fear
of distortion. But one can express oneself without moving away from the original tunes. For example Moharaj eki notun shajey is usually rendered in a humble tone but sing it in a bold tone and the expression changes dynamically."
"Quite a few of the leading Tagore artistes religiously follow a certain style made famous by ace Tagore exponents such as Kanika Bandyopadhyay at Shantiniketan. Apparently whatever Shanitiniketan says is the last word. According to some, Devabrata Biswas couldn't sing, just because his interpretation of Tagore songs happened to be different than that made familiar by Shantiniketan. What these people forget is that even Shantiniketan didn't always follow a certain style of rendering Tagore songs. As the trainers changed, so did the style Shantiniketan embraced."
"Kobiguru himself loathed mindless mimicry. He has always encouraged freedom of interpretation. Of course, that doesn't imply that distortion is acceptable but one who truly admires Tagore would never distort his timeless creation." -- concludes Rahman.