‘SRIJON’, the neonate in the digital space off to a flyer, narrates Sudipta Sengupta

June 28: Since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic followed by nationwide lockdown, there has indeed been a paradigm shift in almost every aspect of human existence. Most of the activities now are conducted via digital platforms, thereby doing away with physical contact, but at the same time weaving an emotional bonding in the virtual world. Creativity too has found its manifestation in social media platforms like Facebook, where people across the globe has created their own pages, which are now teeming with literary and cultural activities. One such Facebook Page born in this phase is ‘SRIJON.’

It’s creator Sudipta Sengupta, has been teaching English at the prestigious Silchar Collegiate School for more than two decades now and her countless students have benefited richly from her wisdom. As the admin of the Page ‘Srijon’, Sudipta Sengupta has provided space to persons engaged in a plethora of creative activities, from big names to amateurs, from housewives to professional artists, from children to teenagers, youth and the seniors. As the number of members keeps on adding, the Page Admin Sudipta Sengupta narrates the journey of SRIJON from its inception.

“It was on the 4th of June that the idea of bringing together creative people from diverse backgrounds on the common thread of environment occured to me and that’s how SRIJON was conceived. In the last few days, contributors and performers have left me overwhelmed with their luminosity. Someone called to tell me that they were shattered after the death of a family member and how SRIJON has been a source of solace.There have been so many touching interactions that I can think of. I cannot recount all those incidents in this short periphery. There was this lady who used to sing for All India Radio but had to discontinue owing to her husband’s posting in a far-off place. It was so moving to listen to her thanking SRIJON for providing an opportunity to rekindle her passion for singing.”

“A number of persons has roped in SRIJON whom we have depicted in the video provided here. There are many others who too are a part and parcel of our group, but paucity of time has not enabled us to mention them in the video, but I do want to give them the due credits and pronounce their names with utmost regards. They are Chandrima Dutta, Shatadal Acharjee, Supradip Dutta Roy, Nirupam Sharma Chowdhury, Shyamoli Kar Bhowal, Sanjita Das, Sujit Paul, Prof. Nirmal Kr. Roy, Biswaraj Bhattacharjee, Rupraj Bhattacharjee, Debashish Chakraborty, Sujata Choudhury, Kapotakshi Brahmachari and so on goes the list.”

“Yet there are others who have written for the first time on the platform.The “#CholoLekhi” Thread event was special with about a hundred people writing about the same topic in the comments section. That event was followed by the joint celebration of World Music Day and International Day for Yoga. We also got a lot of posts celebrating Father’s Day. Currently we are celebrating ‘Borsha’ (Monsoon) in Bengali literature.”

“Every Sunday we have a ‘Jalsha’ live at 7 PM featuring distinguished names from the cultural sphere.The response from the netizens has been very humbling and gives me the push to keep striving on this cultural journey that we have embarked upon”, a very contented Sudipta Sengupta narrates. As an admin, she has come up with the catchy hashtag #itsraining for the monsoon celebrations that will continue till the 30th of June.

Sudipta is also excited about another project that is close to her. “We are calling it #srijoncreates. The idea is to celebrate one month of SRIJON from 1st to 4th of July. We’ve also used hashtags like #chalosriji and the memorial #seemanterprohoriralohoselam to pay tribute to the soldiers who were martyred in Ladakh. It’s wonderful that we have photographers, reporters, bloggers, poets, novelists, story writers, artists and craftsmen, singers, dancers, reciters and dramatists to enrich our content. They are all decent and culturally refined people. We have had the pleasure of felicitating a handful of them. With about 1100 members and followers, SRIJON has spread well abroad surpassing the barriers of geography.” She signs off, the excitement in her voice very marked.

More power to SRIJON which translates into “creativity” and the passionate people behind this wonderful initiative. Like a vintage Virendar Sehwag blazing away at the top of the order, SRIJON the Neonate in the digital space is off to a flyer.