Bangladeshi, Indian singers break barriers at musical soiree

"Pochise Baisakh is separately observed on two frontiers but the spirit remains the same as Tagore is our common love," Lily says on the sidelines of a concert 'Baadh Bhenge Dao' here on Sunday evening.

Another famed Singer of Tagore music and other genres, Mita says, "There was unprecedented enthusiasm among the people of Bangladesh about the Modi and Mamata visits and flagging of bus services between the two countries. But what about people to people cultural exchanges in the grassroots!,"

Pointing out Kanika Bandyopadhyay, Suchitra Mitra, Shantidev Ghiosh, as doyens of Tagore school of music in the 'Other Bangla', Mita says, "Perhaps our audience knows your Srikanto Acharya, Lopamudra, Rupankar more than you know our singers."

"We see the same kind of disbelief and shock when too much experimentation is done in Tagore tracks - here or in Dhaka and the same animated discussion over whether the purity of lyrics can be retained if Visva Bharati lifts the curbs. So where is the difference!," she asks.

Rupankar, another performer at the 92.7 Big FM cncert, rues the Bangladeshi music - from Nazrul Islam songs to contemporary modern tracks - are seldom found in Kolkata.

"However, our albums are available in Dhaka. With Bengali being the common bond between us the two nations. We need regular sustained cultural exchange on different occasions. Also we need to expand our market of music on the lines of the collaboration in Bengali films where some initiative had already been taken," he says.

"Also the way music is promoted by Bangladesh channels and companies we trail by miles. We only know the talk show format," Rupankar says.

A one-of-a-kind musical treat, 'Baadh Bhenge Dao' by the premier Big FM channel was aimed at the Tagore lovers in both 'Bengals'.