A Big Dream Coming True:
The good works of the Shri Aurobindo Institution of Kalyani, West Bengal.

by Barnali Saha

I have always felt that there is a wall between us and the world. It is as if some mighty drapery is shutting down our complete view of the other side. In our warmly lit, fire place rolling sumptuous world we live in one glass house of comfort while the landscape on the other side faces drastic tectonic shifts everyday. In the other world existence is a struggle in itself and paucity is the only procession that its inmates have. On my last visit to India, I had a microscopic view of the pain and the sullen current of despair that flows in the other world, And what I found strange is that most people talk about this other world at length, they write, they are vociferous but when it comes to changing the condition that persists, only a handful of men come to the forefront.  I was lucky to have come across a galaxy of such wonderful men and women struggling hard to make the other world a better place to dwell.

The multitude of genres and sub-genres of Bengali Baul / Folk / Tribal music are defined and discussed. Listen to online songs of many types and subtypes of Bangla Folk & Tribal performed by Mr Gopal Bandopadhyay for WBRi.

The following article is a rough guide to the various folk musicals forms of West Bengal, India. This article is penned by Shri Gopal Bandopadhyay. We have previously featured Mr Gopal Banerjee where he has briefly written about Bengali Folk tradiitons and you can watch Mr Banerjee live in concert - click here.

These songs revolve around the concept of opting for the lifestyle of an ascetic by Nimai and thereby leaving his Grihasthya or family life. These songs were composed on the basis of the pitiful appeal by his wife Bishnupriya and his sorrowful mother Sachimata.

Prabhatee

These songs are usually sung in the morning time by Vaishnavas throughout rural Bengal praising the glories of Radha, Lord Shri Krishna and Gauranga. These songs help the villagers ...