by Sasha A.K. Ghoshal
As the last quarter of 2020 unfolds, I see that Rabindranath had, knowingly or unknowingly, predicted the madness of the modern world in which we now live. We can all surely agree that 2020 has been mad? The world has seemingly been hit by a pandemic, and unlike in any other time in history, everyone--sick OR healthy--has been forced into lockdown. I stress: healthy people have been forced into intermittent and random lockdowns with no definitive indication of any end in sight. When the lockdowns are relaxed, we are told that unless we behave, there will be future lockdowns, indefinitely; all of this for an illness that has been revealed to be no more deadly than the flu. You can tell that this is true because any voice that tries to raise this issue is being systematically censored.
We have, willingly or unwillingly, ceded our power and freedom to politicians; these politicians now dictate who we are allowed to meet, what we are allowed to do, when we are allowed to move freely, and where we are allowed to be. When we ask the question: "Why?", we get a resounding "Niyom!" (The rules!) like in Rabindranath's musical drama, TASHER DESH, about a totalitarian island inhabited by people who have been dehumanised into playing cards.
The media, in conjunction with the powers-that-be, keep spewing the same message, ad nauseum: this is the "new normal". The vast majority of us now play along with their commands, perhaps preferring a false sense of comfort and safety to freedom and life:
"Up and down!
Forward, back around!
Don't look left! Don't look right!
Don't divert your sight!
Sit down! Stand tall!
Contract and sprawl!
Lose control!
Circular stroll!
Stop! Stop! Stop!"
(Translation of "tolon namon" from TASHER DESH, by Sasha A.K. Ghoshal, 2019)
I hope you do not accept this as "normal". Anything that robs you of your agency and freedom as a human being is fundamentally abnormal.
Rabindranath has left behind a legacy for the modern day that is more pertinent now than it was in his own day. This legacy informs us that the very essence of human life is truth and beauty. In fact, he said that "beauty is when truth sees itself in the mirror and smiles". Going forward on your life journey, beyond 2020, I pray that you maintain your right as a human being to live life truthfully and beautifully.
Let us escape the "Tasher Desh" we currently find ourselves in and be "free, pure and whole".
I, for my small, insignificant part, will continue to sing Rabinranath’s songs.
"I am free in the light
In the light and in the skies |
I am free on the grass and where the dust of the Earth lies || From body and mind, far away
I lose myself and stray |
Gone with music, I am free, I rise ||
I am free joined in each and every one's mind |
In hard work that crushes sorrow and danger in its grind |
At the Creator's altar, I aspire
To light my soul on fire|
May I offer my life, and be free as my prize ||"
(Translation of "amar mukti aloy aloy" by Sasha A.K. Ghoshal, 2020)
About Author
Sasha A.K. Ghoshal is an eminent singer and a well wisher of Rabindramela Berhampore
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