Sapno Dekhbo Bale - Mousumi Bhowmik

Kamalini Mukhopadhyay used to conduct a program for  Tara Music TV Channel. It was called Take a Break. The show featured budding young artistes who sang Rabindrasangeet and Bob Dylan with equal aplomb. The talent pool was mind blowing. Saikat Sekhareswar Roy whom I first heard on that marvelous compilation of Gitanjali produced by Innovative System Solutions at Kolkata Book Fair, sang a Dadathakur  parody.  Sounak Chattopadhyay,  whose trained  voice elevated the classical rag based songs of Tagore till it became a trend in itself with masters like Rashid Khan  Saab joining another genius, Nachiketa Chakraborty  and Srabani Sen teaming up with Kausiki Chakraborty to give us two memorable Yatra Albums. Sharmistha Pal brought alive Pupe of Ganer Opare with her quiet rendition. Samantak sang strumming his guitar producing  reactions of the audience as Gora did in the serial. Ipsita Chakraborty, whom I had not heard since, rendered Benimadhab, sitting in a studio live, to make my skin tingle. . Utsab and Sourav with their memorable bold youthful voices are still visible on CD covers. Iman Chakraborty looked a shy kid with a voice that hid years of training and strength. You should have seen her blush when a caller showered her with well deserved appreciation. She is prominent now on TV and shows. Listening to her now makes you happy that she kept the promise she showed. The youthfulness of the program and its random, live format made it an exciting expectation to look forward to every evening. The experience was enriched with Kamalini’s easy camaraderie with the participants, most of whom she could addresss as ‘Tui’. In bengali, that helps a lot in dismantling barriers

 But TV is not about good shows. It is about TRP. And TRP is about frontbenchers and wolf whistles. So the show was yanked off unceremoniously, without as much as an announcement. Recordings of the show are not available on the net. If anyone has a clue where I can find them, aapke muh me ghee shakkar!

Kamalini sang a number on the show one day. The original, she said was by Mousumi Bhowmik. “ Ami sunechi sedin tumi sagarer dheuey chepe nil jal diganta chuye esecho”. It was a dream song, one in a million that stirred you inside out. I had to find it out. And I did.

Here are the lyrics. They are out of this world, a longing that leaves you wanting more out of life. It is titled Sapno dekhbo bale.

Ami shunechhi shedin tumi shagorer dheu-e chepe
Neel jol digonto chhuye eshechho
Ami shunechhi shedin naki nona bali teer dhore bohudur bohudur hete eshechho ..

Ami kokhono jaini jol-e
kokhono bhashini neel-e
Kokhono rakhini chokh dana mela gangchil-e
Abar jedin tumi shomudrosnan-e jaabe,
Amakeo shathe niyo … nebe to amay?
bolo … nebe to amay?


Ami shunechhi shedin naki tumi, tumi, tumi mile
Tomra shodolbole shobha korechhile -
Ar shedin tomra naki onek jotil dhadha,
Na bola onek kotha, kotha tulechhile


Kano shudhu chhute chhute chola,
Ak-i ak-i kotha bola,
Nijer jonno bacha nijeke niye?
Jodi bhalobasha naai thake,
Shudhu aka aka laage,
Kothay shanti pabo … kothay giye?
bolo … kothay giye?

Ami shunechhi tomra naki akhono shopno dekho,
Akhono golpo lekho,
Gaan gaao pran bhore
Manusher bachamora akhono bhabiye tole,
tomader bhalobasha akhono golap-e phote


Astha harano ei mon niye ami aaj
Tomader kachhe eshe du haat petechhi
Ami du chokher gohbor-e shunnota dekhi shudhu
Raat ghum-e ami kono shopne dekhi na …
Tai shopno dekhbo bole .. ami du chokh petechhi
Tai tomader kachhe eshe .. ami du haat petechhi
Tai shopno dekhbo bole .. ami du chokh petechhi

I could gather a little about her from old friend Mr Google.

Moushumi Bhowmik
Background information
Born	1964 (age 47–48)
Origin	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Genres	Adhunik Bengali Songs
Years active	1994–present
Associated acts	Singer, Songwriter, Scholar

Moushumi Bhowmik (Bengali: মৌসুমী ভৌমিক; born 1964) is an Indian Bengali singer and songwriter. Her songs are usually considered to belong to the "আধুনিক" ("modern" song) type. Her albums, including "Ekhono golpo lekho" and "Ami ghor bahir kori" enjoy great popularity in Bengali-speaking areas of India and in Bangladesh.

Personal life

Moushumi, currently based in Kolkata, has been working on a research project on Bengali folk music with the India Foundation for the Arts since 2004.

Works

Moushumi formed a band named Parapar in 2002 with members from Kolkata and London. Their music is built around the voice of singer-songwriter Moushumi Bhowmik and draws its repertoire both from Moushumi's own compositions and the rich folk heritage of Bengal. The band aims to stress the continuity between diverse musical traditions – kirtan, bhatiyali, adhunik, the blues and both Indian and Western classical music – blending them into a subtle and distinctive musical language. They also draw upon folk material collected by Moushumi from West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh. As of 2010, the lineup consists of Moushumi Bhowmik (Vocals), Oliver Weeks (Guitar), Ros Acton (Cello), Ben Hillyard (Bass), Derek Scurll (Drums) and Satyaki Banerjee (Dotara).
Moushumi has also composed for Bengali documentary and art cinema, the most recent film Matir Moyna (The Clay Bird, dir. Tareque Masud) having won the Critics' Prize at Cannes in 2002 and Best Music at Kara Film Festival, Karachi in 2003.

Discography

• Matir Moyna (2002)
• Ami Ghor Bahir Kori (2001)
• Ekhono Golpo Lekho (2000)
• Tumi Cheel Hao (1994)

Her lyrics were strong, relevant, appealing. Her tunes were a tad repetitive. And Sapno dekhbo bale was by far the best. Here are some more lyrics.

                                           Amar kichu katha chilo

tomae bolar kebol tomae

jei na ami thot nerechi

shei kothata toliye gelo

ei shomoyer shobdo tolae

kichui to aar jaena shona

kaar kotha ke bujhbe bolo

bujhte hole kothar mane

chena pother baire cholo mon 

tomar buker agol kholo ||

akhon naki shobdo gulo

ak muhurte shagor peroy

akhon naaki jontrogulo

epaar theke amar kotha

tomar paare pouchiye daae

tobu kichui jaaena bola

shobdo khelae kebol faaki

kothar pithe kotha shajai

amra akhon ekla thaki

amra akhon ekla thaki

tomar amar klanto deho

shobde kothae bharakranto

koto rokom kotha bola

bolte bolte cholte cholte

pouche gechi e kon pranto

hoyto tumi pashei acho

tobu tomae chute ki paai

tomar buke betha chilo

kamon kore kotha diye 

shei bethate angul bulai

bolte hole nutun kotha

bolte hole nutun kotha

chena pother baire cholo

ondhokare jaena dekha 

tobu tumi haatre cholo 

                                  tomar buker agol kholo ||

That nostalgia, the urban sense of loss is omnipresent. And there is hope. Hope in relationship.

Bangladesh war, with it’s deliberate uprooting of Bengalis from their homeland and a designed outcome of the partition imposed on the land by the colonial rulers, touches her.

JOSHORE ROAD LYRICS

Shoto shoto chokh akashta dekhe
shoto shoto shoto manusher dol
jessore road-er dudhare boshot
basher chauni kada mati jol

kada mati makha manusher dol
gadhagadhi hoye akashta dekhe
akashe boshot mora isshor
nalish janabe ora bolo kake?

ghorhin ora ghum nei chokhe
juddhe chinno ghor bari desh
mathar bhitore bomaru biman
ei kaalo rath kobe hobe shesh?

shoto shoto mukh bhoye kator
jessore road j koto kotha bole
eto mora mukh adhmora paaye
purbo bangla kolkata chole

shomoy choleche raajpoth dhore
jessore road-ete manush michil
september haai bhoye kator
gorugari kadha rasta pichil

lokkho manush bhat cheye more
lokkho manush shoke bheshe jaai
ghorhin bhashe shoto shoto lok
lokkho jononi pagoler prai

refugee ghore khide paoa shishu
pet gulo shob fule fepe uthe
eituku shishu etoboro chokh
dishehara ma kaar kache chote

september bhoye kator
eto eto shudhu manusher mukh
juddho mrittu tobu shopno
fosholer math fele asha shukh

kar kache boli bhath ruti kotha
kake boli koro koro koro tran
kake boli ogo mrittu thamao
more jaoa buke ene dao pran

kado kado tumi manusher dol
tomar shorir khoto diye dhaka
jononir kole adpeta shishu
ei kemon bacha beche more thaka

choto choto tumi manusher dol
tomar ghoreo mrittur chaya
gulite chinno dehomon mati
ghor cherechoto matir miche maya

september bhoye kator
ghor bhenge geche juddher jhore
jessore road-er duidhare manush
eto eto lok shudhu keno more?

shoto shoto chokh akashta dekhe
shoto shoto shoto shishu more gelo
jessore road-er juddho-khetre
chera shongshar shob elomelo

kadamatimakha manusher dol
gadhagadhi hoye akashta dekhe
akashe boshot mora isshor
nalish janabe ora bolo kake?

ghorhin ora ghum nei chokhe
juddhe chinno ghor bari desh
mathar bhitor bomaru biman
ei kaalo rath kobe hobe shesh?

shoto shoto mukh bhoye kator
jessore road j koto kotha bole
eto mora mukh adhmora paaye
purbo bangla kolkata chole


Here are some of the songs from the album. And of course Sapno dekhbo bole. Happy dreaming.

Love Letters : A very unique play by Mr A R Gurney

Tumhari Amrita played in our city for a few shows. By Ms Shabana Azmi and Mr Farookh Sheikh. I missed it. As I have missed Putul Khela and Kallol and even Raktakarabi. I was searching the net one day for whatever glimpses of these that Mr

Google had to offer. It was then that I found, that Tumhari Amrita was an adaptation of Love Letters, a play by Mr A R  Gurney. There was a lot of material on Love Letters, some video snippets and show timings even. Only the shows were not in my part of the world. But the video snippets reminded me of a line by Ms Azmi in Tumhari Amrita I saw on TV. It was a very short glimpse of one scene in some programme on Ms Azmi. " Us angan ke kone me ek bargat ka perh tha", if I remember correctly. Her reminiscent happy voice haunted me to read the English play. If anyone can tell me more about Tumhari Amrita, the book or the play, I will remain ever grateful.

Now more about Love Letters. I quote about the play from the book.

" This is a play or rather a sort of play, which needs no theater, no lengthy rehearsal, no special set, no memorization of lines, and no commitment from its two actors beyond the night of performance. It is designed simply to be read aloud by an actor and an actress of roughly the same age, sitting side by side at a table, in front of a group of people of any size. The actor might wear a dark grey suit, the actress a simple expensive looking dress. In a more formal production, the table and chairs might be reasonably elegant English antiques, and the actors area may be isolated against a dark background by bright focused lights. In performance the piece would seem to work best if the actors didn't look at each other until the very end, when Melissa might watch Andy as he reads his final letter. They listen eagerly and attentively to each other along the way, however, much as we might listen to an urgent voice on a one-way radio. coming from far, far away."

All through the 55 pages of the drama and for a considerable time thereafter, I remained transfixed on the lives of Andy and Melissa. I shared their childhood affection, their teenage romance and, their quarrels, their  hide and seek uneasiness in adulthood  and their  love, which Andy could admit only after her death.

Andy's last letter is a revelation. He summarizes his entire life in a tragic canvass of the innumerable moments where he and Melissa came together and went away in different directions throughout their lives. I quote from the concluding part of the play where he writes to her mother after Melissa's death and we hear Melissa's soul suffering from the pain of his admissions.

"

Andy : Dear Mrs Gardener, I think the first letter I ever wrote was to you, accepting an invitation for Melissa's birthday party. Now I am writing you again about her death. I wish to say a few things on paper I couldn't say at her funeral, both when I spoke, and when you and I talked afterward. As you may know, Melissa and I managed to keep in touch with each other most of our lives, primarily through letters. Even now, as I write this letter to you, I feel I'm writing also to her.

Melissa :          Ah, you are in your element now, Andy....

Andy :  We had a complicated relationship, she and I, all our lives. We went in very different directions. But somehow, over those years, I think we managed to give something to each other. Melissa expressed all the dangerous and rebellious feelings I never dared admit to.....

Melissa :          Now he tells me ....

Andy : And I like to think I gave her some sense of balance ......

Melissa :          BALANCE ? Oh hell, I give up. Have it your way,   Andy ; balance!

Andy :  Most of the things I did in life I did with her partly in mind. And if I said or did an inauthentic thing, I could almost hear her groaning over my shoulder. But now she is gone, I really don't know how I will get along without her.

Melissa : ( Looking at him for the first time) You'll survive, Andy.............

Andy :  I have a wonderful wife, fine children, and a place in the world I feel proud of, but the death of Melissa suddenly leaves a huge gap in my life...

Melissa :          Oh now, Andy......

Andy :  The thought of never again being able to write to her, to connect to her, to get some signal back from her, fills me with an emptiness which is hard to describe.

Melissa :          Now Andy, stop.....

Andy :  I don't think there are many men in this world who have had the benefit of such a friendship with such a woman. But it was more than friendship, too. I know now that I love her. I loved her even from the day I met her, when we talked into that second grade, looking like the lost princess of Oz.

Melissa :          Oh, Andy, PLEASE. I can't bear it.

Andy :  I don't think I've ever loved anyone the way I loved her, and I know I never ill again. She was at the heart of my life, and already I miss her desperately. I just  wanted to say this to you and to her. Sincerely, Andy Ladd.

Melissa :          Thank you, Andy.  " 

The format of the play is unique. It takes you through fifty years of their lives, their journey and their escapades as they grow up and try to live without each other. Their families, though never appearing in person, are ever visible in the background. Melissa writes less. She is more action oriented. But she portrays Andy in the few lines she pens.  And I quote again.

" Senator and Mrs Andrew M. Ladd, III and family send you warm holiday greetings and every good wish for the New year.

Melissa :          Andy Ladd, is that YOU ? Blow dried and custom-tailored and jogging trim at fifty-five. Hiding behind that lovely wife with her heels together and her hands  folded discreetly over her snatch ? And is that your new DOG, Andy ? I see that you have graduated to a golden retriever. And are those your sons and heirs ?  And -- Help! Is that a grandchild nestled in someone's arms? God, Andy, you look like the Holy Family!  ......"

She is also very direct.

"

Andy :             .....Jane and the boys join me in wishing each and all of you a Happy Holiday Season.

Melissa :          Dear Andy. If I ever get another one of those drippy Xeroxed Christmas letters from you, I think I will invite myself out to your ducky little house for dinner, and when you are all sitting there eating terribly healthy food and discussing terribly important things and generally congratulating yourselves on all your accomplishments, I think I will stand up on my chair, and turn around and moon the whole f...ing family!"

Andy loves to write.

"Andy : O.K. Here goes. The reason I'm writing Angie Atkinson is because I just don't think I can stop writing Letters, particularly to girls. As I told you before, in some  ways I feel I am most alive when I'm holed up in some corner, writing things down. I pick up a pen and almost immediately everything seems to take shape  around me. I love to write. I love writing my parents because then I become the ideal son. I love writing essays for English, because then I am for a short while,     a true scholar. I love writing letters to the newspapers, notes to my fiends, Christmas Cards, anything where I have to put down words. I love writing you. This  letter which I'm writing with my own hand, with my own pen, in my own penmanship, comes from me and no one else, and is a present of myself to you......"

           

I loved reading the play. As happens with age, you will find some of their experiences common to yours. Most of these will make you smile, some may be sad. But you will surely cherish them and revisit them. Please do. Happy reading! And if you can find Tumhari Amrita for me to read or listen to, nothing like it!

p.s. I was so overwhelmed by the play that I made a recording of it in my untrained voice, playing both Andy and Melissa. I have separated the characters by inserting a bell sound, single bell for Andy and a double for Melissa. I   attach two portions. Please bear with them.

Love Letters Part V

Love Letters Part X