Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 4.9.22
100 years of ‘Bidrohi’ and ‘Dhumketu’
"Bidrohi",
the most famous poem by Kazi Nazrul Islam was written in December 1921 and was
published in several periodicals. This revolutionary poem, written in Bengali
became a raze and continue to enthrall the readers and listeners. It was first
published in a book titled Agnibeena: the first anthology of Nazrul's poems in
October 1922. It became so popular that Kazi Najrul was then known as ‘Bidrohi
Kabi’- ‘Rebel Poet’, though he had written thousands of love and devotional
songs in his later years.
(Read
the English translation of the poem here: https://imcradiodotnet.wordpress.com/.../kazi-nazrul.../
Born
in Churilia of Burdawan district of British Bengal in 1899 into a Bengali
Muslim family Najrul’s life was a roller coaster journey. He lost his father at
a young age and had to take care of his family. He was attracted to folk theatre at a young age
and joined a (travelling theatrical group) run by his uncle Fazle Karim, where he
learnt writing poems and plays also learnt Bengali and Sanksrit literature. In
1910 he left the troupe and joined school. He studied up to grade 10 but did not appear at the matriculation pre-test
examination; instead in 1917, he joined the British-Indian Army at the age
of eighteen. Attached to the 49th Bengal Regiment, he was
posted to the Karachi Cantonment, where he wrote his first prose and poetry.
Although he never saw active fighting, he rose in rank from corporal to
havildar (sergeant).
He left Army in British Indian army in 1920
when the 49th Bengal Regiment was disbanded and settled in Calcutta.
His life took another turn when he turned to
literature and politics. He started writing rebellious poems and became active
against the British administration.
He was most active as a journalist from 1920-1926 and was involved with three newspapers, all in Bengali- Nabajug (New Age), Dhumketu (Comet) and Langol (The Plough).
The
first issue of the bi-weekly Bengali paper Dhumketu was published on 11 August
1922. Its last issue was published on March 1923. In its short span of
existence Dhumketu (which means comet in English) like its name suggested
illuminated the media ecosphere of its time. Najrul was arrested for a poem ‘Anandamayeer
Agamane’ that he published in this paper.
 |
| First Issue of Dhumketu |
Along with rebellion, he had within him a
devotional streak. He wrote many devotional and love songs, which made him very
popular. He wrote plays and also made couple of films.
His life took another turn in late 1930s as his
wife seriously ill. He was physically, emotionally and financially drained. He sank
into depression and gradually lost his mental balance. In 1974 he was brought
to Bangladesh and conferred citizenship. He lost his long battle with illness
in January 1976.
Digital Humanities
A Bengaluru (Bangalore in earlier times) based College recently organized a conference on
‘Impact and Challenges of Digitalization in the Field of Humanities’, where I
was invited as the Chief Guest. Digitalization is the conversion of text, pictures, or
sound into a digital form that can be processed by a computer. With Digitalization in the field of Humanities emerged what is
now called Digital Humanities. Dictionary.com defines digital humanities as "an
academic field concerned with the application of computational tools and
methods to traditional humanities disciplines such as literature, history, and
philosophy." To elaborate, it is a field of study, research, teaching, and
invention concerned with the intersection of computing and the disciplines of
the humanities.
As digital technology becomes
all-pervasive and wildly disruption- I guess it is time to embrace digital
humanities which might help us helping us to expand our understanding of human
culture in a digital world.
Tail piece: Digital Sannyas
It sure would be more
difficult than the Sanyas we know but a journo friend has this post to share:
"Friends, I am taking techno sanyas for four months from 10 a.m. today to
experience digital samadhi otherwise known as metastability which in digital
electronics is a state wherein a circuit must decide between two states based
on an input which itself is undecided meaning which is neither zero nor one!
So goodbye för now and
see you in the new year"
Wondering if I should
try at least a week's digital sanyas!
++
Journalist turned media academician
Mrinal Chatterjee lives in Dhenkanal, Odisha. He also writes fiction and plays.
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
Window Seat is published every Sunday in www.prameyanews.com and Gangtok based English daily Sikkim Express.
https://www.prameyanews.com/window-seat-100-years-of-bidrohi-and-dhumketu/
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