Denied entry, Sunil fans pay tribute with slogans

KOLKATA: A tribute to author Sunil Gangopadhyay at Rabindra Sadan on Sunday evening turned into chaos with thousands of his admirers jostling with police at the auditorium gates to gain entry. Director Goutam Ghose and author Atin Bandopadhyay were among some of the luminaries who were denied entry initially.
Even as authors, poets and artists fondly recalled their association with Gangopadhyay and his literature, his legion of fans shouted slogans in disapproval and held aloft posters with the poet's picture and verses.The tribute was organized by Krittibas, the little magazine launched by Gangopadhyay in 1953.
A tribute to author Sunil Gangopadhyay degenerated into a chaos at the Rabindra Sadan on Sunday evening with thousands of his admirers waiting at the auditorium gates in vain to witness the homage. Soon after the gates were shut with more than an hour remainning for the programme to begin, the crowd started jostling with the police for entry. The latter pushed away the crowd leading to protests. Even as authors, poets and artists fondly recalled their association with Gangopadhyay and his literature, his legion of admirers shouted slogans in disapproval and held aloft posters with the poet's picture and verses. The tribute was organized by Krittibas, the little magazine launched by Gangopadhyay in 1953.
The homage opened on a sombre note with the Tagore song - Jagate ananda jagge. The audience was, however, asked to refrain from clapping. As the audience clapped mildly, they were asked to refrain from it.
"Please don't clap for this is a condolence meeting. But then we are not treating this as one, for Sunil Gangopadhyay lives on in every one of us," declared poet Srijato, who conducted the programme.
Poet Nirendranath Chakrabarty warmly reminisced his long association with the departed author. "Sunil's death is a personal loss for me. He was like a brother. I had first read his poetry when he was a 16-year-old boy. He had sent it to a magazine for which I was working.
His verses were brilliant, different from what we had read till then. His language was bold, subjects daring. I not only got his poem printed, I even wrote to him praising it. He was moved by my letter and later told me that he felt too shy to send me a reply," said Chakrabarty.
Describing Gangopadhyay as a "towering tree" in the world of contemporary Bengali literature, Chakrabarty said he was fortunate to witness Gangopadhyay's steady growth as a writer through the decades. "He started off as a small plant and developed into a huge tree. I consider myself fortunate to have witnessed this transformation. Even though Sunil was an atheist, he did reach out to god in his own way. There are two ways you can look at religion and god. The first is through conventional religious belief and the second is through good deeds. Sunil chose the latter path which did make him a believer in his own way," said Chakrabarty.
Author Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay praised Gangopadhyay as a colleague. said it was a pleasure to work alongside him in the same office.
"We had once been on a trip to Shillong, and Sunil, after a bout of drinking, fell down from his bed. I looked around for help but there was none. Since I could not lift him alone, I placed a pillow under his head. Next morning, he was quite upset with me for not having helped him back to his bed. But he was extremely generous. Often, he would improve the lines penned by young poets and end up re-writing the entire poem. But he never sought credit," he said.
While director Mrinal Sen recounted how the author moulded young poets, director Goutam Ghose would rush to him whenever he needed consultation. "It's unbelievable how he helped and moulded so many young poets and made them flower," Sen said. Director Goutam Ghose said he had never seen an author who loved cinema like he did. "Sunilda not only loved good cinema, he was quite an expert on films and script-writing," he said.
Besides Gangopadhyay's admirers, several luminaries including Ghose and author Atin Bandopadhyay were initially denied entry. Painter Jogen Chaudhuri had to be taken inside through a rear gate.
Miffed for being denied entry into the venue, While the guests were whisked away into the auditorium.
Even as writers paid their triibutes, thousands Sunil Gangopadhyay fans descended on the Rabindra Sadan lawns to pay tribute to Gangopadhyay in their own way - shouting slogans and holding up posters. They stared at a giant screen without audio that was put up near the main gate. "Sunil Gangopadhyay amar rahe", shouted a few enthusiasts. Others went around the auditorium silently, holding his posters.
"It's unfair to keep us out. But as Sunil's fans, we couldn't care less. We shall pay our own respect by reciting his verses," said Amar Ray, a Baguihati resident.