Eminent Rabindra sangeet exponent Shailajaranjan Mazumdar shares a delightful story about Rabindranath Tagore’s deep bond with Nature, and his songs are witness to this intrinsic communion. Mazumdar observes, “I have often requested Gurudev to sing. One day, the sky was very cloudy, and a strong wind was blowing. I was about to return home from Gurudev’s house; I deliberately started speaking aloud to catch Gurudev’s attention. ‘What is happening with the clouds? Feels like blowing up into nothingness…’ Gurudev asked me to go home, adding that he didn’t hear these sounds. I then bowed down to touch his feet and said, ‘Please don’t be stubborn when the song comes.’
Gurudev called me in the afternoon. He had written the song Mon Mor Megher Sangi. Without saying anything, I picked up the song and wrote down its notations.” Tagore wonderfully conveys human emotions in Mon mor megher sangi by reflecting on those feelings through images of nature. Nature, the poet, and the listener all feel darkened monsoon skies through the lyrics. The song’s literal meaning is rather simple, conveying a stormy upsurge. For the mind to befriend the clouds is an adventure in itself. The mind goes through an array of feelings as the clouds float through numerous spaces. When the mind suffers, thoughts concentrate like clouds. When the pain becomes unbearable, just as the clouds shed raindrops, one mourns.
Lyrics:
মন মোর মেঘের সঙ্গী,
উড়ে চলে দিগ্দিগন্তের পানে
নিঃসীম শূন্যে শ্রাবণবর্ষণসঙ্গীতে
রিমিঝিম রিমিঝিম রিমিঝিম॥
মন মোর হংসবলাকার পাখায় যায় উড়ে
ক্বচিৎ ক্বচিৎ চকিত তড়িত-আলোকে।
ঝঞ্জনমঞ্জীর বাজায় ঝঞ্ঝা রুদ্র আনন্দে।
কলো-কলো কলমন্দ্রে নির্ঝরিণী
ডাক দেয় প্রলয়-আহ্বানে॥
বায়ু বহে পূর্বসমুদ্র হতে
উচ্ছল ছলো-ছলো তটিনীতরঙ্গে।
মন মোর ধায় তারি মত্ত প্রবাহে
তাল-তমাল-অরণ্যে
ক্ষুব্ধ শাখার আন্দোলনে॥
English translation:
My mind is a companion of the clouds
Floating towards the distant horizons,
In an endless void, with the rainswept song of Shravan,
Rim-jhim, rim-jhim, rim-jhim
My mind floats on the wings of cranes
Illuminated by the flashes of thunder
The frightening sounds elicit a divine expression of joy
The ripples of the stream murmur softly
Portending the call for disaster
The breeze blows from the eastern seas
And reflects in the waves of the river
My mind sweeps ahead in the maddening flow
Towards the trembling branches of the palm forest.
The aggrieved branches tremble.
Some useful information:
Written in: 1939
Age of the poet: 78
Published in: July 1944
Parjaay (Category): Prakriti (Nature)
Upa-parjaay (Sub-category): Barsha (Monsoon)
Taal: Kaharba
Raga: Malhar
Notation: Introduction to Musicology, 1944
Swarabitan: Vol. 53
Notation by: Shailajaranjan Majumdar
Purpose of the presentation
Tagore’s music resonates with people from all walks of life. His songs are performed at cultural events, religious ceremonies and social gatherings, reflecting their enduring popularity. In an effort to bring home this treasure trove to the non-Bengali population and Bengalis around the globe, Brainware University offers a selection of Rabindra sangeet in this presentation. It is enriched with details on the songs and relevant anecdotes.
Sung By
Sri Phalguni Mookhopadhayay Chancellor, Brainware University Phalguni Mookhopadhayay is the founder-Chancellor of Brainware University, founder-Chairman and Managing-Director of Brainware Consultancy Private Limited and founder-Chairman of Webguru Infosystems Private Limited. He did his schooling at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur, and graduated with honours in Economics from St Xavier’s College, Kolkata. He completed his masters in Economics from Calcutta University and MBA from IISWBM, before joining Hindustan Lever as a management trainee. He worked as a market planner for the ABP group for nearly a decade before striking out on his own and successfully launching two private limited companies and one University. Phalguni Mookhopadhayay is a self-taught digital artist, a versatile photographer, a filmmaker and a weekend singer who has already recorded 78 songs and is now immersed in a project to popularise Tagore songs among a global audience.
