Silchar celebrates Street Music Eve to commemorate birth anniversary of the man behind ‘Moheener Ghoraguli ‘

June 3: Music is an art form which brings forth the subtle forms of waves present in the society. Music reflects the prevailing smiles, sniffles and social upheaval of a particular time and space through its mesmerising tunes. Such an unsung but pioneer of modern Bengali songs, Gautam Chattopadhyay was paid a befitting musical tribute by the Independent Music Lovers of Barak Valley on Saturday near the main gate of Silchar Gandhi Bagh.

It is out of the box thinking that makes Gautam Chattopadhyay immortal in the arena of Bengali music. To think beyond the defined borders and to be true to one’s own self is perhaps the best way to express one’s creativity.  The music-loving youth of Silchar took part in this venture on the Street Music Eve at Silchar and sang to their heart’s content.

Apart from serving palatable music, the organizers also felicitated the gardener (Mali) of Gandhi Bagh, Babul Nath. He has been there for 17 years. This is perhaps the beauty of music which sublimes human beings and teaches to be a part of the have-nots of the society.

Indeed what could be more befitting than to offer tribute to a person by means of the deed that he lived and died for. One after another, the young brigade of this town presented beautiful musical numbers in Bengali in their own unique way. The only criteria fixed by the organisers for the evening was that they were to perform “Non Film Bengali music”.

From Madly Bangali to Shorik Band, Prokriti Band to Adib Emon, Gargi, Sanghita Choudhury, Dhritiman Chanda and many others enthralled the audience and offered rich tributes to the great harbinger of Bengali Independent Music and Modern Indian Band music, Gautam Chattopadhyay.

Gautam Chattopadhyay (1 June 1948 – 20 June 1999) was an Indian Bengali singer, songwriter, bassist, and composer. In 1975, as a leader he co-founded the progressive rock band Moheener Ghoraguli with songwriter Tapas Das, pianist Abraham Mazumdar, bassist Pradip Chatterjee, lyricist Ranjon Ghoshal, drummer Biswanath Bishu Chattopadhyay and guitarist, Tapesh Bandopadhyay. He was also a theatre person, filmmaker and ethnographer.