Tagore aficionados couldn’t have imagined a better evening
than the one last Sunday (9 November 2013) at Toronto’s George Weston recital hall organized by Inspirations
2013 to celebrate the centenary of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize for
Literature.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was the first Asian and non-European
Nobel Laureate (Literature, 1913).
The creative team for the evening comprised Manasi Adhikari
of the Gitanjali, Ananya Mukherjee-Reed of York University and Enakshi Sinha of
Mrudanga.
In a message explaining the raison d’etre of Inspirations
2013, the creative team said, “With Inspirations, we celebrate those aspects of
Tagore’s vision that are universal and utterly contemporary. The fundamental
equality between all human beings, the need to resist all forms of injustice,
and the infinite possibility of deepening our understanding of each other –
these are some of his values. Tagore saw the arts as a powerful medium of
social change. It enables us to reach new heights of creative self-expression
where everyone can come together – irrespective of language, identity, race,
nationality or religion.”
The Tagore Anniversary Celebrations Committee of Toronto
(TACCT) pivoted the organizing of the program with many organizations collaborating.
The TACCT had organized many programs during Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary in
2011.
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| Grace Hong |
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| Debshankar Roy |
The evening began with musical renditions of Tagore’s
compositions performed by a unique combination of choir and orchestra music.
Debshankar Roy of Violin Brothers was the conductor and Grace Hong was the
concert master. Mansi Adhikari was the music director.
The highlight of this musical prelude was the English
rendition of Tagore’s most famous Ekla Chalo Re written when Bengal was
Partitioned in 1905. It was Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite poem. Listen to Amitabh Bachchan's rendition of the classic here (from the film Kahani; dir: Sujoy Ghosh; music Vishal Shekhar): Ekla Chalo Re
The second part of the program was the presentation of
Inspirations Spirit Awards in honour of Rabindranath Tagore to some of Toronto’s
leading citizens who have contributed to improving our world by making it more
inclusive.
John Van Burek, the artistic director and founder of
Pleiades Theatre, and director of Tagore’s Dak Ghar, and Ananya-Mukherjee-Reed,
Professor, York University hosted this segment of the program.
The Inspirations Spirit Award were given to:
Dionne Brand, Canada’s leading poet of social
justice, for Poetry and Social Justice
Matt Galloway, host, Metro Morning, CBC, for Diversity
and Social Inclusion
Inner City Angles & its Executive Director
Jane Howard Baker, for Empowerment through the Arts
Ontario Co-operative Association and its
Executive Director Mark Ventry for Building
Inclusive Economies
Chandalika, Tagore’s timeless saga of a young Dalit girl’s
love and sacrifice, was the grand finale to the evening. “The production
brought together several forms of Indian classical dance accompanied by live
music, drama and narration.”
Manasi Adhikari directed the dance drama, and
Ananya Mukherjee-Reed translated the epic into English. For other credits see
here: Inspirations 2013
The audio-visual slides that translated Tagore’s poems from
Bengali to English helped the non-Bengali knowing audience understand and
appreciate the magic of Tagore’s poetry. Also, it was heartening to note the
support the event received from Tagore lovers. The large hall in North York was
nearly full.
Images: https://www.facebook.com/Inspirations2013toronto?fref=ts
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