Suramya Chhandabasar’s motive is to promote and popularise Bengali language through performing arts: Sanghita Pal

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I have a substantial network of compatible enthusiasts across countries- India and Bangladesh in particular, who love poetry and art of speech, we started exchanging views, thoughts and ideas; through social networking platforms and get-togethers. That’s how Suramya Chhandabasar came into being; we staged our first official event on January 24, 2016 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and since then we are growing thick and fast.

The name is a combination of two words, ‘Suramya’ which means ‘heavenly beautiful’ and ‘Chhandabasar’ which translates to ‘the abode of rhythm’ so, ‘heaven-like beautiful abode of rhythm’ is what ‘Suramya Chhandabasar (SCB) means. The name is a thought process of the founder President of SCB, Debanjan Mukherjee. We want Suramya Chhandabasar (SCB) to be a monument of art of speech, based out of Silchar, Assam. Our first official step forward was the Indo-Bangla Bengali Recitation Fest on January 24, 2016 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The theme of the fest was based around, ‘Cultural harmony, Nationalism, Love, Friendship and Unity’.

But with success comes challenges and we too had many, finance has been a major hindrance, yes, but we have been working on it, pitching our ideas to potential sponsors. We are trying to make them realise the importance of correct and effective communication in today’s world, and how the art of speech plays a vital role in building up to that level.

The objective of the organisation is to promote and popularise Bengali language through various forms of performing art of speech, especially in those regions where the language is very less spoken or the culture is less or sparingly practiced. And that was one of the reasons why we chose Ahmedabad as the venue of our first live event. Gujarat is second home for many Bengali-speaking people who have made the place their ‘karmabhoomi’.

Artists from various parts of India and Bangladesh participated and performed in the event to make it a great success. One of our aims is to strengthen country’s socio-literary and cultural ties with our neighbouring nation Bangladesh. Eminent elocutionist of international repute, Partho Ghosh (he is one among SCB’s Advisory Board) from Kolkata, was the Chief Guest of our fest in Gujarat. Essayist and poet, Prof. Tapodhir Bhattacharjee, ex-Vice Chancellor of Assam Central University, Silchar was also present among others.

Practised throughout history, poetry has stood the test of times and civilizations, and will remain a magical art form celebrating humanity forever. We believe in some ideas, which are its objectives as well. Those include—supporting, guiding and engaging differently abled children and popularising the art of speech among them. In this connection, we brought to the fore some very talented blind children of Blind School, Silchar in its 2^nd Recitation Fest at Gandhi Bhawan in Silchar on March 21, 2016. Apart from this, with an aim to make people aware to respect all global languages, we brought our second audio album in 2017, which has a ‘Shrutinatak’ based on respecting all global languages.

The SCB also runs a recitation class, Chandaniketan, affiliated by the prestigious Surnandan Bharati, Kolkata. The classes are being taken weekly once every Sunday for two hours. Another important event in our calendar has been World Poetry Day. In 2017, on our third celebration of World Poetry Day, All India Secretary of Surnandan Bharati, poet and essayist, Ritish Ranjan Chakravarty graced the occasion as Chief Guest of the event at Banga Bhawan in Silchar. This year, i.e., on March 21, 2018, we would be celebrating it at Banga Bhawan in Silchar. Like previous years, artists from Bangladesh and India will take part.

Suramya Chhandabasar has organised Recitation Fest for three times till date and with Debanjan Mukherjee, I and Panchatapa Choudhury, as founder President, General Secretary and Cashier, respectively, the member count of SCB has crossed the 50-mark. Our audio albums have been continuously bagging good reviews, and we further spread our wings by buying an art of speech-based magazine, ‘Suramya’ in 2017.

As part of our future plans, Suramya Chhandabasar not only wants to perform on stage but also wants to get creatively involved in research based work on art of speech and its various forms and how it can be utilised in serving the people and mankind as a whole. We also plan to organise an evening with poetry enthusiasts representing different languages and dialects in future.

Note: This article is written by Sanghita Pal, founder and general secretary, Suramya Chhandabasar. We wish her best for her venture, if you want to let people know about your journey write to us at editorial@barakbulletin.com.