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Nazrul's gift of word-weaving

In conversation with Sumon Chowdhury

Fahmim Ferdous
Noted artiste Sumon Chowdhury has sung a variety of songs over the years, but the music of Nazrul holds a special place in his heart. On the occasion of the National Poet's 115th birth anniversary, the artiste spoke about his discovery of Nazrul, and his poetic and lyrical style themes and how he weaved words in ways only he could.
"1 was born in a very cultural-minded family. We were introduced to Rabindranath and Nazrul's poetry at a very early age. My mother had Tagore's 'Sanchayita' memorised entirely, and we heard many stories and songs even before reading the works. When I started performing after liberation, I figured that there were certain types of songs that
the audiences liked in my voice. Additionally, since I was personally involved with politics, nurtured from my family atmosphere, the connection with Nazrul deepened. It was he who first wrote Tago Onoshon-o Bondi', the first Gono-Sangeet. Be it 'Karar Oi Louho Kopat', 'Moder Ei Shikol Porar Chhol', or 'Durgom Giri', these songs were truly about the masses and people. Then when I joined Chhayanaut, I was allotted to the department of Nazrul because 1 scored the highest in that subject.
"We are very fortunate to have two people like Rabindranath and Nazrul who have written for us. The two have spoke about many same things in different ways. We find symbolism in Nazrul's work in a new way. Rabindranath and poets and writers before him had thoroughly used contextbased imagery in their creations; Nazrul has also done that, for example in his ghazals he would create imagery through metaphors, and told a vivid story through that. Another specialty of Nazrul's work was pure abstraction; entirely alienated from any reality. He painted mental pictures like these using various elements. For example, 'Chand Herichhey Chand-mukhTaar'i' - here the moon is looking at itself in the water; the song moves on from there, with the 'chokori', his two wives rohini, boroni and his love for the moon, creating an entirely metaphor-based imagery. Bangla literature had not seen this before him, as far as 1 know.
"And then, he wrote lines that were complete poems in themselves. Take 'Ab Ke Bichhrey Toh Shayad Kabhi Khwabon Mein Milein, faise Sukhe 1 luye Phool Kitabon Mein Milein' for example. The first line in itself is a complete poem; the second line is added as a supporting statement, but even without it the line can stand-alone Or 'Ashile Bhanga Chore Ke Mor Ranga Otithi, Horoshe Borishe Bari Shawon Gogon Tithi', is not a poetic fragment, but complete in itself. He also often riddled with his writings, and many of them have been misunderstood. "Kar Nikunje Kataye Ashle Pratey Pushpo Chor, Dakchhe Pakhi Bou Co Iago Ar Ghumayo Na Tundra Chore' While this appears to be centred on Radha-Krishna's stoty, what doesn't fit the bill is the mention of the 'bou'. If you go deeper, you'll see it's a conversation of a person with himself, not with someone else. Nazrul has many such works. Like poets and bards did, communicating with a spiritual force like it is their beloved. In many of Nazrul's works that appear initially as just love songs, you'll find spiritual connections; there are works where love devotion and worship have intermingled inseparably, and ascended to a much higher plane than just the physical perception of love and romance
"I think the face of the timeless Bangla songs that we see today, speaking lyrically; much of it was molded by Nazrul. The lyrical styles of expression have been influenced by his works. The musical format of Nazrul's dadra, ghazals and works have been reflected in many works of later artistes' works; be it Manna Dey, Satinath, Hemanta, Shyamo) Mitra and Manobendra's songs. Most of the musical arrangers of those times were close to and influenced by Nazrul. Sadly, you will not see it being acknowledged all that much - in terms of lyrics, music and more so, his poetry."