Who doesn’t know of Bengal’s Rabindranath Tagore? The first non-European Bengali poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter to win the Nobel Prize in Literature mainly for ‘Gitanjali’. He’s renowned for his compositions turned national anthems, i.e, India’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and Bangladesh’s ‘Amar Shonar Bangla’. Familiarly known as ‘Kabiguru’, ‘Gurudev’, and ‘Bishokobi’, Rabindranath was the pioneer behind Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan. His songs which are based on classical and folk music of Bengal are well-known all over the Indian subcontinent as ‘Rabindra Sangeet.’ Actually, not only in India, but people outside are also reciting his songs. On July 2, 2021, a video of an African man singing ‘Mayabono Biharini Horini’, the famous ‘Rabindra Sangeet’, went viral all over social media.
The viral fire began on Facebook when Ashis Sanyal shared it stating “This post of mine collected through WhatsApp, is reposted and dedicated to all my FB friends from the Continent of Africa, as I made large number of friends during my CDAC Noida teaching career from all parts of Africa. Please enjoy the song created by the Nobel Laureate Genius Rabindranath Tagore from my City of Calcutta….and sung by one of your own !!!” Now, it’s buzzing all over social media.
You can watch the video here:
‘Mayabono Biharini Horini’ was sung by Giyata, in honour of Tagore’s anniversary which was on May 7. Not everyone can pronounce Bengali perfectly, but this African man touched everyone’s hearts with his near perfection pronunciation, music, and efforts! I would like to extend my grateful emotions towards his teacher, Monali who taught him this song. It’s good to see the power and popularity of Bengal’s music outside India too. It’s a matter of great pride for India, and I’m sure many of you’re feeling the overwhelming emotions that the legend is still in the hearts of people. Soulful music remains forever.
