2-day fest celebrates Bengali poet Nazrul’s timeless work

Hyderabad: The two-day

Nazrul

Utsav culminated on Sunday at Lamakaan. It was the first time Kazi Nazrul Islam’s works were exclusively introduced to the city. The one-of-its-kind event was organised by two Indian organisations – Chhayanath, based in Kolkata, and Sur-O-Dwhani Foundation from Hyderabad, in collaboration with Bangladeshi organisation Bashori.

Artists from Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangladesh performed plays, songs and poetry written by Nazrul Islam. The event was inaugurated by Chandana Khan, a former IAS officer from Hyderabad. In her speech Chandana said: “Nazrul is not bound to a century, keeping in mind the scenario across the country and around the world, his poetry and work are very much relevant in our times too.”

Of the thousands of songs written by Nazrul, often known as Nazrul Geeti, Jaya-hok- Jaya hok (let there be victory, let there be victory) was performed by the artists. The English translation of his poems such as Apon Piyasi (I look for her), Bijoyini (victoress) and Nari (woman) were recited by Supriti Chakraborty.

Someriti Mallik, chairperson of Chhayanath said, “This kind of an initiative was taken by us to not only celebrate Nazrul but to get him the recognition he deserves. Our aim is not only to reach Bengalis living in Hyderabad, but also to introduce our literature to the non-Bengali community.”