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A glimpse of Shantiniketan through the eyes of former students

Staff Correspondent
Shantiniketan, the internationally acclaimed educational institution founded by the Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, is a creation at par with the poet’s music, literature and paintings. Stories have it that classes at Shantiniketan, especially those of music, dance and drama, often take place in the open air— literally in the lap of nature, just as we hear of the ancient universities of Greece and Rome. And students from Shantiniketan often say that songs, accompanied with the tanpura, emanated from various parts of the ashram.
To learn all about this "abode of peace" (literal translation of Shantiniketan), the Arts and Entertainment Desk of The Daily Star spoke to five leading artistes of the country who have had their education at Shantiniketan. The artistes are: Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya, Sadi Mohammad, Lili Islam, Aditi Mohsin and Sharmila Bandyopadhyay.
According to the artistes, the most important characteristic of Shantiniketan's environment was the friendly teacherstudent relationship. The teachers also had a special affection for the Bangladeshi students. “When I arrived at Shantiniketan,” recollected Sharmila, "I couldn't get any accommodation in the hostel. It seemed I would have to come back to Bangladesh.” Sharmila did not need to take such a drastic step as Neelima Sen, a famous Rabindra Sangeet artiste and a teacher at that time, came to her rescue. She took Sharmila to her house where the latter stayed as a pay-
ing guest for some time until she got admission in a hostel.
Shantiniketan had many great artistes as teachers who had been there from the time of Rabindranath Tagore and thus were direct disciples of the legendary poet. The list had Kanika Bandyopadhyay, Arati Basu, Shailaja Ranjan, Subinoy Roy, Ashesh Bandyopadhyay, Nimai Chand Boral, Neelima Sen, Alak Chattopadhyay and many others. “And they taught us exactly what they learnt from Gurudeb (as Rabindranath was addressed by his followers],” said Bannya. The learning-teaching method was based on the idea of parampara in which the master teaches the students all about the traditions and rituals.
"Interestingly, there were no ego-clashes among these great singers,” said Sadi. According to him, everyone was respectful of the other’s talent. “Once on the occasion of Poush Mela, Mohor-di (Kanika Bandyopadhyay) was asked to sing the song 'Ami Chanchalo Hey’," recalled Sadi. "Mohor-
di refused to perform because she believed that Debabrata Biswas could only do justice to the song”. The legendary singer, popularly known as 'George Biswas', was, not however, recognised by the Biswa Baharati Music Board that used to monitor the "purity” of Rabindra Sangeet.
Lili Islam said, “The artistic idyll of Shantiniketan is incomparable. I used to attend Mohor-di's (Kanika Bandyopadhyay) class wearing either a Kaath Golap or a Gandhoraaj flower in my hair that I had plucked from a tree. One day due to lack of time, I missed doing that. With a sweet smile, Mohor-di said to me, 'Hasn't the tree blossomed today?'”
“We would notice the nuances of seasonal changes in Shantiniketan. The monsoon would arrive with a special appeal; the singing of cuckoos would declare the onset of spring while we got a hint of autumn in the cool air. Various festivals revolve around the seasons. We would totally feel at home. I have learned music, dance, acting and crafts at my
alma mater. The teacher-student relationship is very unique in Shantiniketan. If a student aspires to learn many things at Shantiniketan, they have the ideal environment to do so,” added Lili Islam.
Aditi Mohsin, who went to Shantiniketan in 1993, said that many traditions have lost their value at Shantiniketan at present. "We heard that everyone used to walk barefoot and girls used to wear sari at the ashram," she said, "but when I studied there, these traditions had withered away.” Bannya also agreed that many old values have been replaced by new ones.
Now, how do these ex-students of Shantiniketan practice what they learnt at the legendary institution? Sharmila said that she always tries to follow the style of costume that she saw at Shantiniketan. "I avoid using much glitter and rather put emphasis on colourful costumes for my compositions.” The singers too try to teach their students what they learnt about the philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore.