Monsoon inside, monsoon outside

Monsoon is here in all its majesty. The presence of the season, now into its second month, is being felt across the country with many low-lying areas having gone underwater because of incessant showers and flash floods.
The Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in Gulshan on Saturday hosted an evening to pay tribute to the monsoon by presenting songs and poems – all by Rabindranath Tagore – rich in allusions to the season’s beauty and all-encompassing nature.
Indian singer Dola Bandopadhyay and local recitation artiste Belayet Hossain presented the rain-themed songs and poems respectively. As they performed, the weather outside turned overcast and a light rain began to fall, as if to express solidarity with the celebrations taking place inside the hall.
Belayet Hossain began the show by reciting the popular Tagore poem Bristi Pore Tapur Tupur/ Node Elo Baan. Dola Bandopadhyay carried on the theme by singing the monsoon number- Badolo Baul Bajhaire Ektara, which describes a baul singer playing on his single-stringed instrument.
The audience was then treated to a coupling of monsoon poems and songs, accompanied with soft music on flute, table and keyboard.
Poems like Ashar, Eki Gaye, Banshi, Krishnokoli and Emono Dine were combined beautifully with songs like Aj Dhaner Khete, Shyamol Chaya, Mon Mor Meghero Songi and Pran Voriye Trisha Horiye.
The audience left the hall with their hearts filled and thirst quenched. ‘The show was a perfect tribute to the monsoon showers. The presentations were marvelous,, said Maruf Reza, one of the members of the audience.
Indian singer Dola Bandopadhyay is an alumnus of Rabindra Bharati University, and has trained under famous gurus like Swagata Lakshmi Dasgupta, Purnima Chowdhury and Jatileshwar Mukhopadhyay. She has several albums to her credit including Khola Haoa, Raage Anuraage, Gitanjalir Gaan, and Jhumuriya.
Belayet Hossain, a member of Udichi Udichi Shilpi Goshti, has several duet and solo albums such as Thikana, Aguner Kachhe Phuler Angeekar, and Ek Akasher Tara to his credit.