SUMAN CHATTOPADHYAY………..THE FALLEN HERO?????????

Once upon a time in the land of the Aryans, there went a tenet that encouraged the Bengalis to bask in the glory of their revered geographical boundary, West Bengal. It was, perhaps still is, hailed as the intellectual capital of India. Why not? With a plethora of recognized and acclaimed achievers in their respective domains tracing their origin here. Be it science, music or literature, one stood no chance in falling short of choices. One had the likes of Tagore, P.C.Sen to vouch for.
However, the aspect hidden from public glare, which in due time became Bengal’s nemesis, was the state’s recalcitrance to accept changes. Submerged in the glory of the predecessors, Bengal was unwilling to keep up with the erstwhile social reforms that were taking the world by storm. Obsessed with ‘Bangaliana’, epitomized with meek, taciturn, dhoti clad ‘Babumoshais’, the state embraced Communism with arms wide open and turned it’s back from everything other than it.
Needless to say, cultural evolution came to a standstill. Bengal, at that juncture, was not ready to look beyond Tagore. ( Readers, this is by no means an attempt to disparage the noble laureate, he is timeless). While the world rocked and rolled with the Beatles, crooned and rode high with Bob Dylan or Jim Morrison, rock and roll in Bengal was incarcerated within a select audience, sardonically classified as the ‘Classes’ by the puritans. A child was berated on expressing a penchant for playing the guitar. An youth was subjected to walking the lonely corridors and parents often contemplated a rehabilitation, if found trying to explore the nuances of rock and roll. It was widely regarded as a condescending act, so dismal was the state.
Amidst such atrocities emerged an emphatic persona, Suman Chattopadhyay, who deserves every bit of adulation for transforming and popularizing the sound of contemporary Bangla music. Needless to say that he was an able successor to Gautam Chattopadhyay, who was touted as the harbinger of contemporary bangle music, popular as ‘Jibonmukhi gaan’. With his advent into this genre of music with ‘Tomake Chai’ back in 1993, suman ably ended the lull that loomed large after Mohiner Ghoraguli, a brainchild of Goutam Chattopadhyay, disintegrated in 1981. The genre dealt with socially relevant issues, punctuated with tunes utterly non existent in the horizon of bangle music till then. Bengal, which had till then been a necropolis for western music, was suddenly all ears to Suman Chattopadhyay. He was inundated with applause from all quarters. Be it Tomake Chai, Gaanwala or Petkaati Chadiyal, the heretic in Suman was distinctly visible. The sagacity of his lyrics had the youth in a frenzy. Being an ardent of Bob Dylan admirer, Suman’s rendition of Dylan was apparent in his compositions like ‘Uttoro To Jaana’.
However, the king’s scepter has it’s fair share of thorns and so did Suman’s ascent to the crest. Though his advent into the bangle music scenario created an urge in many to follow his suit, it did not take his distractors long to shower his music with a plethora of sardonic comments. An esteemed yesteryear’s exponent of Rabindrasangeet even went to the extent of commenting………If this breed of musicians( Suman and his acolytes) christens their music as Jibonmukhi, had we spent all our life in nurturing ‘Moronmukhi’ music. Fortunately, the efficacy of his music helped him steer clear of such derisions.
In Bengal, a musician does not live by his music alone, but his life is put under scanner every now and then. Suman’s turbulent conjugal life, ornated with numerous associations and subsequent splits had already ignited enough ire, which debilitated his audience base. That he converted to Islam and rechristened himself Kabir Suman, to marry Sabina Yasmin, was not taken kindly by a chunk of his audience. That he lacked contrition for this act was termed profane by many. Still, the impact of his music over rode such distractions and prevented Suman, the Musician, to fade into oblivion.
Bengal,a Communist stronghold and rightly so with the ledgend of the late Jyoti Basu, had witnessed a benign amalgamation of culture and communism in the state. The so called cultural stalwarts of the state had always shown a fervent appreciation for the Communists. On the contrary, Suman joining Trinamool Congress, demeaning the glorious history of Communists epitomized by the Che Gueveras, Fidel Castros or M.N. Roys, showed him a poor student of etymology, thus raising many eyebrows. Detractors took no time to label him a gold digger, well versed with the dynamics of Bengal’s murky politics. However, that he still had his veracity in place and joining Trinamool was no ploy to align himself with the emerging political honchos was proved when Suman revolted, time and over again, against the inconsistencies prevailing in his party, thus making a travesty of his critics.
An appeal………let go of his squalid conjugal life, let go of his political ambitions( I doubt if he at all nurtures one!). let he be remembered as a sagacious heretic who enlightened Bangla music with a new sound and an unique perspective with panache. HAIL SUMAN…………..