ওয়াশিংটন বাংলা রেডিও Washington Bangla Radio USA

My homage to Kobiguru on his 150th birth centenary this year - 'Duhsamay' from his "Kalpana" selection of poems.

Submit your recitations to be aired on our live radio channel.

Kolkata, India, June 25, 2010 (Washington Bangla Radio) There was a time when recitation was confined to the solo regimentation of the artist. But Sumantra thought otherwise. The rhythm of poetry brings more joy if shared with others. So, 23rd July, 1989, saw the birth of "SANKHAMALA".

Now everything changes fast as years rolled on, Sumantra with the passage of time passed out of the school portals, obtaining marks of distinction and acquitting creditably very well in being able to occupy enviable 1 st and 2nd rank among the contestant competitors in recitation. He made a long stride in pursuit of higher studies of college in the face of galaxy of stumbling blocks which could have handicapped any boy of mediocrity and he qualified ably himself as an Honors graduate in the teeth of baffling financial circumstances and obtained with confidence a good Masters Degree from Calcutta University.

Sumantra began gradually to come to limelight to make a mark in a mile-stone of steady progress towards the goal, the height of glory. The elegant lustre of his meteoric rise at the pinnacle of name and fame, can be traced to the sight of packed house, listening, being spellbound with undivided at( tention. When Sumantra's maiden solo appearance named as "Sisir-a Sumantra" at the adorned stage of 'Sisir Mancha' which was colourfully designed by the great wizard and colossus in the world of magic spell of light Sri Tapas Sen possessing an international fame all the world over, to recite in full throated voice exclusively from memory for three consecutive hours, was really a marvelously spectacular to see Sumantra manifesting himself fully with all glare in the year of 1999 in the month of December.

A rare cherished occasion which awaited blissfully Sumantra in the arena of elocution, was availed of at an oppourtune moment that he accomplished with buoyant zeal and splendidly as a singularly lone reciter consecutively for three hours at the illustriously reputed auditorium of 'Shantiniketan' entitled 'Natya Ghar' apparently reminiscent of Rabindra Nath's glory and great fame as an actor in 'Valmiki Prativa' before the adorned audience comprising a galaxy of vishavarati varsity teachers and professors, eminent sculptors and painters and Visha-Varati varsity personal.

The old proverb, 'running thus like nothing succeed like success' is evidently belied at the sight of revelation of spectacularly outstanding performance in terms of cassettes entitled "Ami Ki Rokom Vabe Benche Achi" coming to light on 14th February in 2001, was adjudged on the merit of intrinsic calibre and grit as the best of the stupendously excellent performance of the contestant elocutors and reciters of eminence in the whole of West Bengal on the occasion of "Bangla Sangeet Cholochitra Samman".

Barnali is a creative writer, painter and elocutionist from Nashville, TN, and is a regular contributor to Washington Bangla Radio.

In this article in the Washington Bangla Radio Online Magazine (e-zine) section, Barnali Saha translates acclaimed Bengali poet Joy Goswami's famous poem Malatibala Balika Bidyalay (Malatibala Girls' School) into English. Also watch a free video online of Barnali reciting the Bengali original poem.

Contribute to WBRi - Use The Contact link to submit your songs, recitation, creative writing, painting etc. for global broadcast.

Nandini Mukherjee is an experienced practitioner of Rabidrasangeet (songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore). She trained under Amar Lahiri, an outstanding exponent of the varied styles of the genre, and a disciple of Subinoy Roy. Earlier, Nandini underwent formal training in Hindustani classical music at Geetabithi founded by Subinoy Roy.

Nandini believes that the essence of Rabindrasangeet lies not only in its poetry and inimitable musical style but also in its unmatched emotional appeal. Her belief echoes Tagore himself, who, by characterizing his music as Bhavsangeet, sought to emphasize emotion over technique. He therefore classified his compositions in terms of their emotional appeal to people as Puja (devotion), Prem (love), Prakriti (nature) and Swadesh (patriotism), and not as the different classical or folk forms of music from which he drew inspiration.

Being Bhavsangeet, Rabindrasangeet has a universal appeal, transcending barriers of language and nationality. The cause of universality is furthered by Tagore's unfettered acceptance of musical styles from lands faraway and near, which he synthesized and harmonized to constitute his own, inimitable brand of music.

It is in continuance of this pursuit that Nandini's renditions have been accompanied by narration in English.

Nandini performs lives at venues in Bangalore and Kolkata.

Listen to English Narration and Rabindra Sangeet by Nandini.

April 9, 2010 (Washington Bangla Radio) - By Subhomoy Mukherjee, WBRi Kolkata Correspondent: The space anywhere available is not enough to write something about Elocutionist Guru Shri Partho Mukhopadhyay. I have so many words to write that I complete ultimately by writing a little. He is really Guru by nature because anybody can describe him as teacher rather than performer. He always skips the opportunity to perform and provide the space for his students as he always seems happiest to see his students famous. We can take example of one and only elocutionist Bratati Bandapadhyay, his most famous and favorite disciple.

Partho Mukhopadhyay's solo programme on 2nd February, 2010 at Rabindra Sadan is a tribute of Sarathi disciples to their Guru. His accompanist was Santanu Bandopadhyay on Background Music. The set was very good that day. His excellent presentation was divided into two parts.

 Listen to a complete audio recording from Partho Mukhopadhyay's program online via WBRi on-demand Bangla Radio service. These rare and unique recordings are also being broadcast on Washington Bangla Online Radio channel.

Pinaki was awarded ABRITTI RATNA (2004) in a function at Bangla Academy by Padmashree Debdulal Bandopadhyay on behalf of Samantaral for his contribution in recitation and his youthfulness in performance (‘tarunyo r abrittir hridoye hridoy joge korechhen….’). The function was covered by DD News and other media.

His audio album DECEMBER 6 was released by Washington Bangla Radio partner Music 2000. Listen to audio clips online from his Bengali recitation album December 6.

An audio-presentation of Rabindranath Tagore’s short story KABULIWALA: On the surface we are all so different; but most human relationships are surprisingly familiar. Visit BANGLA GOLPO-BENGALI STORIES PODCAST (http://gauravdas.podbean.com) for more audio presentations of classic stories and novels in bengali.

Gitanjali by Bratati Bandopadhyay and Prattyush Bandopadhyay is an album with recitation from Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali (buy Tagore's Gitanjali Book Online) recited by Bratati Banerjee with background music designed by Pratyush Banerjee on the Sarod. Pratyush Banerjee is a talented disciple of Pt Buddhadev Dasgupta.

The album is released by Saregama (erstwhile HMV) to mark 100 years from the publication of Gitanjali. Saregama has recently started doing a good job of making their releases available for MP3 download. Listen to free samples and download MP3 recitation by Bratati Banerjee online »

Also check out Prattysh Banerjee's Indian Classical Instrumental Sarod performances of Raga Gujri Todi and Jaijaiwanti MP3 downloads »

Watch Prattyush Banerjee performing Live in Toronto in 2008:

Feb 12, 2010 (Washington Bangla Radio) The nominations for 2010 Filmfare Awards, the Indian cinema industry's attempt to imbibe the Academy Awards of the USA, have been announced. The nominations in the various categories are as follows, as announced on the Filmfare web-site.

Naseeruddin Shah, one of the greatest acting powerhouses in India and the world, has famously said Bollywood Film Awards are a joke. There are reader comments already made at the Filmfare site lamenting the non-inclusion of smart films like Rocket Singh and inclusion of non-actors in the nominated list of best actors and actresses. The fun goes on!

Most of these Hindi movies are available online in Blu-Ray and DVD formats - click on the links following the entries to order online.

BEST FILM

3 Idiots (order DVD Blu-Ray online)
Dev D (Blu-Ray DVD Sale)
Kaminey (Buy Blue-Ray DVD)
Love Aaj Kal (Blu-Ray DVD)
Paa (Blu Ray DVD)
Wake Up Sid (Blu-Ray DVD)

BEST DIRECTOR

Guru Partha Mukhopadhyay will perform recitation as his 1st offcial solo program on 2nd February, 2010 at Rabindra Sadan, Kolkata.

Entry is free for all.

BACHCHAN RECITES BACHCHAN is a fabulous album sure to entertain all Hindi poetry and Ghazal lovers. Amitabh Bachchan, in the unique bass-baritone voice of his, recites some magnificent poems written by his father, the acclaimed poetPadma Bhushan Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan (1907 - 2003).

Born Harivanshrai Srivastava, Bachchan is an adopted title that he took up formally while working towards his Ph.D. in Cambridge, England in the early 1950s.

Read Harivansh Rai Bachchan's acclaimed Madhushala in full. Watch video of Amitabh Bachchan reciting Madhushala. Buy Amitabh Bachchan's recitation of poems by his father.

The fifth season of the top-ranking Zee Bangla Channel Comedy show Mirakkel Akkel Challenger debuted on Dec 31, 2009 at 9:30 PM.

Official Synopsis
In the year 2006, history was created with the show that brought laughter to Bengal - Mirakkel. Mirakkel Akkel Challenger 5 marks the return on Zee Bangla of the Badshah of all comedy shows. The original power house of humor Mirakkel is back with Mir as the anchor of the show that will be judged by the stalwarts of comedy - Paran Bandyopadhyay, Sreelekha Mitra and Rajatava Dutta.

Watch Live ZEE Bangla TV Channel Online on your computer broadcast direct from Kolkata.

Acclaimed Bengali Baul, Folk Singer, Songwriter and Poet Arun Kumar Chakraborty was born in the early 1940s. He has worked with Hindustan Motors as an engineer at their automobile production line. A leading poet of his generation, he now lives in the town of Chunchura in Hoogly District of West Bengal, working to preserve and disseminate Baulmusic of Bengal.

Tapan Sanyal - a poet himself (as well as a musician, composer and Tabla player) met Arun Chakraborty to learn more about the great Baul. The following video is contributed to Washington Bangla Radio by Tapan Sanyal.

শ্রী অরুন কুমার চক্রবর্তীঃ একটি পরিচিতি

কবি ও বাউল শ্রী অরুন কুমার চক্রবর্তীর জন্ম ১৯৪২ সালে। পেশাগত জীবনে তিনি ছিলেন হিন্দমোটোর গাড়ী কারখানার ইঞ্জিনিয়ার।

এই সময়কার কবিদের অগ্রজপ্রতিম এই মানুষটি এখন হুগলি জেলার চুঁচুড়া নিবাসী। নিবিষ্ট আছেন কবিতা ও বাউল গানের চর্চা আর সংরক্ষনে। কেঁদুলির বাউল মেলায় প্রতিবছর তাঁর দেখা পাওয়া যাবেই তমাল তলার আশ্রমে। অধুনা বিখ্যাত “লালপাহাড়ির দ্যাশে যা” এই গানটি তাঁর এক অনন্য সৃষ্টি। বাড়ির পাশের এক মহুয়া গাছ কে দেখে তাঁর মনে হয়েছিল – এই গাছের উচিত স্থান লাল মাটির দেশ। এই অনুষঙ্গেই এই বিখ্যাত গান লেখা হয়েছিল।

বাউল গানের নিবিষ্ট এই সাধকটির অন্তরমহলের কথা জানতে এক অন্তরঙ্গ আলাপচারিতায় মুখোমুখি হয়েছিলেন আমাদের বন্ধু শ্রী তপন সান্যাল।

Subhendu Dutta is originally from Midnapore, West Bengal but presently resides in Kolkata, India. His recitation recordings also feature his wife Mrs. Mampi Dutta and son Arya Dutta.

Submit your recitation for airing on WBRi global live Radio Channel.

Poet, singer and songwriter Tapan Sanyal recites "Bhalo Theko" - a Bengali poem written by him. Tapan Sanyal is also a music composer and an accomplished Tabla player. He and his wife Tripti Sanyal (singer) are experimenting with classcial world fusion music.

 Use the submission link on WBRi music