Shabda Naishabder Akhyan

This book comes out of a lecture I delivered in Halisahar on 15 November 2015 on the occasion of Bengali theatre director, playwright and actor Badal Sircar’s centenary. Here is a list of some of the sounds and images I talked about, in the order of their appearance in the book.

আমার শব্দ নৈঃশব্দ্যের আখ্যান বক্তৃতা এবং সেই বক্তৃতা থেকে তৈরি করা বই-এ যে সব শব্দ আর গানের কথা আমি বলেছিলাম, তার কিছু কিছু এখানে রাখা রইলো।

One of my early childhood memories is of a play of Badal Sircar, Ebong Indrajit,   that I had seen in Shillong in the early 1970s.

Ebong Indrajit

It was the refrain, ‘ebong Indrajit’ (plus Indrajit) that had stuck with me. Perhaps this is what I had heard:

Ananyar Khonje in album Tumio Cheel Hao 1994

Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds

Little Boxes by Pete Seeger

Bring Me a Little Water Silvy. Lead Belly.

Sylvie by Harry Belafonte

Sweet Freedom, a 1931 recording by E. R. Nance Family.

‘O Freedom’ by Joan Baez, a song that really moved me.

‘Ferari’ and some other matters from the Halisahar talk.

‘Je agun legechhe ta hathat nibhbe na’. Kafil Ahmed and Nupur Sultana sing

Artist, political activist Labani Jangi and I had created a video with Kafil Ahmed’s song, ‘Je Agun Legechhe’, during the pandemic in 2020.

Ekta Ghar Bhanga Ghora Uthe Dnaralo.  Kafil Ahmed’s brilliant song of defiance and resistance.

Shunyo is a song about emptiness. I sang this a capella in London, during a rehearsal session, in 2024.

Majhi (The Boatman) was recorded in 2016 in Kolkata for the album Songs from 26H. The song is written and composed by Moushumi; Satyaki Banerjee plays the oud while also singing the opening lines.

Never Again, Never Again to Anyone.