Bengali classical music that connects to the soul

The sun has just set. Lights in every room are lit again. It's time for evening tea. The Kettle is being ready, and just beside the tea table, there is a tape recorder. Old, ribboned tape cassettes are lying around here and there on a wooden table. It has such a serene atmosphere and not even Alexa to play anything.

But a switch clicks, and 'Harano diner gaan' (Music of the lost days) starts playing in the background. Maybe songs such as 'Sei raate raat chilo purnima' or 'Tomare legeche eto je bhalo, chaad bujhi ta jaane' accompany the new moon. Or it might be Nirmala Mishra humming with her irresistibly melodious voice, 'Tomar akash duti chokhe, ami hoye gechi tara'. Even cosmological mysteries get left behind when it comes to old Bengali songs. They despise all logic and calculation because only the purest form of emotion prevails. The rosy days of a love affair, the lovers' quarrel, and even the separation get a euphonious image here.

Surely, who doesn't feel like this when someone they knew for a long time changed just before their eyes and had nothing to tell instead- 'Tumi aar nei she tumi'? At least there, it is good to know SD Burman, or even Manna Dey, was here to speak for those with broken hearts, 'Ko phota chokher jol phelecho, je tumi bhalobashbe?' or 'Oliro kotha shune bokul haashe, koi tahar moto tumi amar kotha shune hasho na to?' Well, every one of the lovers must think that there is nobody to love more than them. There is no way to measure that, but we always would have music to express that.

Uttam-Suchitra, the Mahanayak and Mahanayika on a bike with a never-ending smile on their lips- syncing with a song of an endless road, the road that knows no bounds. No destination is needed when the journey itself is so enjoyable, and you just can ask each other, 'Ei poth jodi na sesh hoy, tobe kemon hoto, tumi bolo to?' Songs created with such simple words, even conversation and stitched in a memorable melodious tune, taught us another language of heart in the form of classic Bangla songs. We learnt through those, and there is no need to speak words or tell each other a thing when there is music to guide you, just as in the song- 'Shudhu gaan geye porichoy.'

When someone leaves us forever, there is nothing to say to them anymore. There is a painful silence everywhere, and only the memories are kept alive through all the hardship. Then comes the saga of 'Kinnorkonthi' Hoimonti Shukla- 'Amar bolar kichu chilo na/ Cheye cheye dekhlam, tumi chole gele- Naa go, amar bolar kichu chilo na.' And this is not the only case. If we go through all the lyrics of the pile of old Bengali music, there is a hint of melancholy spread almost everywhere. Even if it is not a self-acclaimed 'sad song' like 'Kotodin dekhini tomay' or 'Tumi aaj koto dure', there must be a pensive tone attached. Maybe the poet Percy Bysshe Shelly found it right by saying, "Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought." The same goes for our dear golden era of Bengali music.

Only looking at the beloved and thinking that you can do almost anything in love is expressed through songs like 'Hoyto tomari jonno'. To us, our beloved is the most precious face on earth, and there is just no comparison to them- 'Jani tumi ononno', and just a call for hope is what makes us alive with such words as 'Ashar haat barai'. Letters might not have the same value in today's era, but there was a time when people used to wait very long for one letter. When they received it- hearts knew no limits; they just kept singing a song of Banashree Sengupta, 'Aaj bikeler daak-e tomar chithi pelam/ Rongin khaam-e jotne lekha, amar e naam.'

Protima Dutta, a 74-year-old retired government employee, shared her experience with music, especially with the songs of her era. She took us on a personal journey where the medium of music evolved. As a teenager, she got her father's radio as entertainment. Later, she took tape recorders from roommates, and as time passed by, she even had her own tape recorder with a vibrant collection of cassettes that had been lost on the way of life.

Maybe all of us are in search of a song. A song that can take you on an adventure of heartbeats in a moment, a song that can shelter you in a lonely time separated from your partner. A song is a tool to reconnect with your nostalgic past, just as Mrs Protima Dutt said, "I still remember those lazy afternoons and an open field of our college. I used to stay in a hostel, so there were many chit-chat sessions with my mates. Often, we used to sit under the open sky and sing our hearts out, mostly with the newly released Bengali film songs."

But old songs came to her in a new form in her lonely days when there was nobody to pass the time during the day and just a Smart TV set hanging on the wall accompanied her throughout the day. At noon, after completing her basic routine, she takes the remote and dives into the realm of YouTube- searching the keywords of old Bangla songs. There was a time when she had a radio set for this, and after that came TV. But the connection with the internet amazes her as she does not have to wait anymore for her favourite music. She feels quite happy that her daughters introduced her to this easy and enjoyable technique,

"Whatever song I want pops up on the screen and keeps playing. It keeps playing until I sleep, and even after I sleep, the music does not stop. It has become my constant companion." Memory is a deceiver when age hits you hard; no matter how beautiful the stories you left behind, the mind seems to like shuffling them. Randomly. Surprisingly. "I keep listening to songs, but let alone the lyrics, I even forget the name of the singers some days. Then, I jump through the videos to find it."

Addressing someone so close to your heart might not always be that easy. Maybe it is the early days of a blooming love story, and you two are sitting on two sides of a coffee table. Not very sure about what to call. 'is it too soon to give them a nickname?' 'Is it okay just to call out their name so loud?' 'What would they want?' - So many questions popping up in your mind, and the blushing never stops, and surprisingly, there is a song to rescue you- It just might be the perfect one, "Ki naam-e deke, bolbo tomake, mondo koreche amake oi duti chokhe?" Maybe most of us carry a vintage soul that just needs a whistling breeze- 'Ami je mataal hawar e moto, jete jete paaye paaye gechi joriye'.

Stories keep repeating themselves, but the music stays there. To accompany, to guide. How songs should be is not a question. Rather, how songs can connect you to your old soul and hopeless romanticism is a matter of discussion-or even realisation. Realising and discovering old Bengali songs in this new era can be a great exploration for music lovers. A newer song titled 'Purono diner gaan' by Nachiketa Chakravarty can be the introductory guide for those still deprived of the taste. Here, this artist mentions singers from the memorabilia of Bengali music, such as Satinath Mukherjee, Nirmala Mishra, Manabendra Mukhopadhyay, Manna dey, Ila Basu, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and some more. This proves that the new age also values the old days, "Purono diner gaan ajo bhore monopran.'

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