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‘’Ami – I SheiMeye…’’this single line undoubtedly enough to introduce herself. Bratati Bandyopadhyay the eminent name of Bengali poetic world not only our Kolkata as well as our country too.
Bratati Bandopadhyay is a famous elocutionist and her journey of life is an inspiration for every young generation of performing arts. The journey of her life was not so much in lengthy but it was counted as ” inspiring ” by her own dedication, skills, perseverance and uniqueness. At the age of three,she had started to learn by heart and could recite three hundreds of rhymes and short poems and her made her first stage appearance reciting a poem by KaziNajrul Islam. At her age, her only fascination was sound, rhythm, images and she interpret in a rare manner.
Thus the seasons, months and years rolled out, she enlarging her mental canvas with more and more poems, sounds, rhythm and interprets and created all these in a theme with new light of perception. She learned from the world around herself. Side by side she progressed her academic education, she started primary education at Bethune Collegiate School in Kolkata. At her school, she got an opportunity to polish her inborn talent, and participated the inter school Elocution Contest, and won the first prize. She completed her post-graduation in Economics from Calcutta university. During all these years, a silent and unique transformation was taking place into her attitude. Her innovative mind was fully supported to create new horizons of expression through poems, dramas, audio features- all build her first love ‘Elocution’.During all these years, a silent and unique transformation was taking place into her attitude. Her innovative mind was fully supported to create new horizons of expression through poems, dramas, audio features- all build her first love ‘Elocution’.
She was deeply inspired by the maestros of performing arts of her younger days- SuchitraMitra, SambhuMitra, and along with some of our greatest contemporary poets and authors like Nirendra Nath Chakroborty, Sankha Ghosh, Sunil Gangulee, Purnendu Potri, Dibenydu Palit, Subho Dasgupta, Joy Goswami. But all the above, the colossus that completes and interpenetrates Bratati’s entire psyche was none other than Bishwakobi Rabindranath Tagore. With the respectof everyone she synthesizes their individual genius with the alchemy of her own creativity, it is to Rabindranath Tagore that she totally surrenders herself. Naturally, her love of poetry drew her to the vibrant world of performing arts and culture, and her identity became the new face of Bengali Elocution.
On the 7th December, 1996, at Rabindrasadan was fully packed to capacity she stepped on the stage alone. It was unforgettable event, as she recited every brilliant poem in all its exquisite beauty and appeal, reaching out to every heart. Her dreams culminated in that performance that evening, and history was created. In 1997, ” AMI-I SHEI MEYE”album was released. In this work she lent voice to millions of women who lie suppressed and muted under the male- abused society. Her name became the synonyms with empowerment of maltreated woman as she declared herself to be one with every other member of her sex, boldly stating ”I Am That Girl…”
She also worked with other project like ‘Mondo MeyeBhabna’,’joyjoyonti’, ‘Chinnopatra-alma’, ‘Bhalotheko’, ‘Chirosokha’, ‘ Ay re bhola’, ‘Anjali’, ‘SheserKobita’ and so on. She had brought a revolution in the world of Bengali elocution.
As Bratati put it, her passion and profession are the same. Culture of poetry, newest experiment, innovations, bold projects all these are the part of her work, her life. In today’s fast movement of life, she was created sparking interest in the poetry among the young generations.
Apart from the elocution world, she was also associated with Doordarshan as the news- anchor since 1989. She has never put herself away from the mundane world in order to enjoy ivory tower seclusion. She remains a sincere humanist,relentless activist- using all the assets to make the world a better place. She visited the presidency jail, interacting with the prisoners and lending them a hand to redeem themselves. This activity makes a great difference who have been damaged by life, and the can find a new light of their life through poems.Creating new path is never without challenges. pioneers are always criticized, and questioned. Bratati has been no exception. But the ever-stirring intellectual commotion that keeps her going. New ideas, different thought, opposites beliefs- all these makes to reinvent and rejuvenate herself.
As Goddess Durga enlighten our paths. Her glory of enlighten helped to find the new meaning of our life through poetry. And her journey is far from others. She became ‘ Real Durga‘. We were highly acknowledged to honour and felicitate her.
