Governor, Sharmila Tagore inaugurate 3-day Nikhil Bharat Bangla Sahitya Sammelan centenary celebrations at SNU

KOLKATA: For West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, Rabindranath Tagore's 1892 story 'Kabuliwala' about the friendship between an Afghan dry fruits seller Rahmat and a five-year-old Mini from Kolkata, is one of the best short stories. The Governor read the story of 'Kabuliwala' when he was eight and since then, it has stayed with him. The same is the case with Ex-Speaker of Lok Sabha Meira Kumar, who was born in Darbhanga in Bihar. When she was a school-going kid, her father Jagjivan Ram, a former Deputy Prime Minister, narrated her the story of 'Kabuliwala'.

"Tagore has connected madam Meira Kumar and me and the rest of the world through Mini. This is the power of Bengali literature. I would also like to write a book in Bengali," said the Bengal Governor at the inauguration of the centenary celebrations of the concluding ceremony of Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan (NBBSS) on Christmas on Sister Nivedita University (SNU) campus at New Town, Kolkata. His wife L S Lakshmi was also present. Bose expressed a desire to pen a book in Bengali, terming himself as an 'adopted son' of the state.

It was love for Bengali literature and the language, which brought a galaxy of stalwarts at the three-day centenary celebration of NBBSS. From Pradip Bhattacharya, MP, and president of NBBSS, Satyam Roychowdhury, Chancellor, SNU and Chairman, reception committee of NBBSS, noted singer Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty, former Bengal Governor Shyamal Sen, Janab Andalib Elias, Deputy High Commissioner, Bangladesh, popular painter Shuvaprasanna, youth icon Sourav Ganguly, scientist Bikash Sinha, Arunabha Banerjee, director, finance and operations, Alliance Broadband and Anil Dhar, general secretary, NBBSS were present at the event on Sunday.

The lamp-lighting ceremony was accompanied by the soothing rendition of Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty, who turned 70 on Sunday. His birthday was celebrated, too, by the dignitaries on the stage with a cake-cutting event. The latest book of CV Ananda Bose was also presented to the stalwarts in the presence of Mou Roychowdhury, director of Techno India Group, and Anjana Bhattacharya.

Calling herself the 'adopted daughter of Bengal', Kumar said how her family of three generations has strong ties with the state. She even remembered how her father had learnt Bengali as a school student in Bihar just to read the 'Anandamath' by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

Sharmila Tagore, who started her illustrious career as an actress in Satyajit Ray's 1959 Bengali film, 'Apur Sansar', was elated to be present at the centenary celebrations of the concluding ceremony of NBBSS, whose first session was presided over by none other than Rabindranath Tagore in Varanasi 100 years ago.

Reciting Tagore's 'Antoro Momo Bikoshito Koro', the National Award-winning actress also congratulated the Bangladesh delegation present at the three-day program NBBSS on the SNU campus.

Padma Bhushan awardee scientist Bikash Sinha, a friend of CV Ananda Bose, remembered his association with the Bengal Governor when he was at Atomic Energy Education Society. Sourav Ganguly said he being a sports person, doesn't quite fit in the programme, but was happy when he received a phone call from Pradip Bhattacharya to attend the event.

Bhattacharya spoke about the association of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, Satyendranath Bose, and the former President of India Pranab Mukherjee with NBBSS. "Pranab Mukherjee was the president of NBBSS for 12 years. When the first international convention was held in Dhaka in 2018, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina was present to inaugurate the event and the concluding ceremony was presided over by Pranab Mukherjee," he said.

For Roychowdhury, it was indeed a historic moment to witness such stalwarts on the dais on Christmas. "I am delighted to host a galaxy of respected guests on the SNU campus. It's a historic day for all of us. The institution, which has been associated with names like Tagore, Atulprasad Sen, Ashapurna Devi, and others, is 100 years old today. I cannot recall any Bengali organisation, which has crossed 100 years. It is indeed surreal that 100 years ago, a group of Bengalis in Kanpur felt the need to return to their roots and created a historic organisation like NBBSS. Today, it is the same connection with the roots and the love for the Bengali language, which has kept this organisation alive for 100 years," he said.