Babuida,
My ex colleague in ABP, senior friend Mr. Alokemoy Ghosh passed away in his sleep on the early hours of Sunday 27th June without letting the world know that he Is going…He was not ill, there was apparently no sign or syndrome of any illness except his recent hip joint operation.

I got the news on Monday morning, couldn’t believe in the first place but the shell shocking news sunk in later and I finally came to terms that Babuida is no more. I only spoke with him last week .

I know there are at least 5000 men in Kolkata who knew him more dearly and spent much more time than me (my association with him was only 16 years) and they are far better suitable to speak about him, but still I can not restrict to share my feelings ,more so after I read the very touching article by Mr Aloke Kumar, his ex boss.

I met Babuida somewhere in 1994 while I used to work in ABP, the interaction grew deeper during Anandamela Ankur, Anandalok Awards and Sananda Tilottama awards events. I was a small fry then,(I still am)and he was a giant in Marketing and PR but he has treated me as I am in the same rank & file. The relationship grew stronger over the years and was intact till the last week.Allow me to narrate some glimpses :
One day, I told him I am tired of speaking about events in front of a client and I want to know how on earth you convince client to get business, what lines you use, when you make the punch line etc,(although in circulation and events that time with no knowledge of marketing I used to read Kotlers and Ogilvy’s and subscribing A&M magazine). Babuida agreed to take me in one of his calls with one condition, that I would not speak a word ,either to him or to the client during the entire conversation, I agreed as I did not have any option and was eager to see how the great Babuida make calls.
To my utter surprise, during 45 minutes of conversation with the client, he never spoke about the event, any word about rates,size,page,columns and centimeters, artwork,.. NOTHING but movie gossips,Cricket,Sachin’s form, Politics ,all my bookish knowledge and guidelines of marketing calls have gone down the drain and I was half tempted to believe that the myth about Babuida is little exaggerated just then I found that he stood up and said “Ok, aj ashi” to the client ,dumbfounded , I too got up and followed him to the door, just then he turned and said to client ” ei ja.. bhule gechillam..e hochche sumantra..event kore…kal 75k ekta RO pathiye deben…detail sumantra fax kore debe…ashi” client” Hyan Hyan..Ok.”In the car I asked him how !!! in which his reply was typical “dekhte eshechile…dekhecho..cholo” .I have attended the first class of marketing of Babuida.

I do not want to test your tolerance as how great a Marketing and a PR guy he was as I am not qualified enough and there are greats in the likes of CBda, Amitabha da, Subirda, Situda,Deepakda, Anjanda,Chiranjibda and close friends like Sudip,Biprada who can speak volumes, I would rather share another personal incident.

On a scorching summer day 29th May (forgot the year) my wife enquired can I take her to Darjeeling and we only managed dates from 4th June -10 June upon which I said to her no chance,next year, as I have found out 279 in waiting list and no decent rooms in Darjeeling, upon which my wife dejectedly asked “nothing can be done?.” I told him I know one man on earth to whom I would ask ,if anything can be done he is the man I know.
I called Babuida and said today is 29th May, I want to go to Darjeeling on 4th June and come back on 10th June, I know it is summer vacation time, I don’t have any railway reservation either and no accommodation is booked.
It took Babuida less than 5 seconds to react and said meet me tomorrow and call Shyamalendu too.

Next thing I was accompanied by him to the Chief PRO Eastern railways, ticket and reservation done in exactly 25 minutes, from there, hold your breath, Writer’s building…marched to rooms of ministers after ministers ,every where people started saying ‘’Arey asun, bosun.” His and Shyamalendu’s only enquiry,, Darjeeling e 4th -10th ghar ache kina dekhe rakhun…in next 30 minutes..got a minister’s bungalow, arranged everything…I thanked him time and again upon which there were no reaction but only one request “ JJ ,office e namiye debe to?”

Usually when anyone dies ,it is customary and in good ethics that people praise and say good things about the departed soul but in my 45 years of life upon which 20 years were spent on events, marketing, circulation ,sales , distribution and PR, I can safely say it would perhaps take a lifetime to get to know another human being with no MBA degree from IIM's would come even 200 kilometers close to the quality and credibility of Babuida in PR and Marketing.

He has finally reached the level where he belongs....in the skies...

At last, yes.. he was fond of drinking, yes he was little careless, but history taught and showed us, geniuses are like that only ,who can not be measured in mundane, pedantic discipline.

Babuida..bhalo theko..tomake ar keu chuntei parbena....

(Right to left Anindyo,Aniruddha Roychowdhury (Dir:Antaheen and
Anuronon,Santanu Moitra,the great music composer and yours truly)

Allow me to share this photo with you. I am personally very happy to meet Santanu Moitra who I feel although in a brief interaction is a wonderful human being apart from a great composer.the meeting was in Cafe The in ICCR for the Santanu Moitra interviewed by Anindyo for Tara Muzik. Watch for the interview with up close and personal Santanu Moitra. Allow me to share the sense of humour of Mr Santanu Moitra,while introducing Anindyo said he is a singer, in which I interrupted and told him Anindyo penned two songs for my album, which Anindyo also stated that another great Rituparno Ghosh also penned the lyrics for three songs in my album. Upon hearing this he commented,"O shob boro boro lokera likhechen ar apni ektu geyechen ar sur korechen..."

Great to meet him and hope you like the picture.

My first play back in movies. Mithun Mallik my programmer has invited me to sing a song in this movie which is scheduled to release in the middle of June.It is funnyly titled "Murgir Gaan".Hope you would like it once the film is released and i look forward for your comments.

Letter to Bikram

I am posting a very heartfelt poem by a most talented, versatile friend of mine, Nilanjan Bandopadhyay. This poem is written for his beloved singer friend Bikram, son of the famous singer Mohon Singh Khangura who has passed away recently.

Any death, that too of a very young heart, is an extremely painful and rude shock for all of us... Although I personally did not know him, but I often heard his sonorous voice in various performances with his illustrious father.

I am sharing Nilanjan's very personal yet very universal pain of losing a dear friend untimely... Through the poem it feels like we all dearly miss Bikram, even though many of us did not really know him personally.

I got this poem from Reshmi Roy, my colleague in Tara Muzik, who, like Nilanjan, used to know Bikram quite closely because of her Shantiniketan connection. Reshmi got the poem from Santoshankar Dasgupta. I have called up Nilanjan and sought his permission before posting it.

Washington Bangla Radio featured me in their website. Please visit the website to read the article. Allow me to confess i did not know that Washington Bangla Radio is a wonderful web radio station which promote and air play Bangla songs dilligently.

They promote upcoming hitherto unknown artists by which I am very grateful to them.

All musicians ,irrespective of cast ,creed and culture always want to showcase their latest creation,want to know what is happening on the music circuit,new compositions,new artists, their work pattern.Washington Bangla Radio plays a cogent role in this regard.

Awaiting your feedback...till then.....Jai HO

"There are times when situations control you and there are times when you control situations".-
These are the lines which i read from somewhere and which left a sententious mark in me.
'The life and times of a wannabe singer is a painstakingly difficult one' one of my very dear friend who is in the same profession warned me sometime ago.Now I can understand every word that he meant.But i understand that extreme struggle and hardships are meant to make oneself more determine in his pursuit of success.One another friend recently quoted a famous line "This too will pass".

There has been lot of crticism, contemptous comment by my well wishers about my decision to quit an otherwise SAFE and reasonably successful career as the future of my present chosen path looked completely bleak and uncertain at the present moment, no assurance of regular programmes,no certainity or sign that I would be successful in my present path but allow me to share certain things although less importance to most corporate professionals but extremely significant for me.

1. In Saraswati Puja ,in the morning suddenly i heard that my songs are played in the local pandal, I was little curious as I have not given my cd of requested them to air play it, i later came to know that one of my neighbour ( a painter of repute) had requested the local boys to air it and they obliged.But with utter disbelief I heard my songs again played two times in the evening,and suddenly i got a call from that gentleman stating after airing he had taken my cd back and in the evening there was a call in his house, the locals asked my cd from him as there were "requests" to air it again.

2. Mithun Mallck my sound designer in most of my songs barring two had given me a break in one of the forthcoming movie. I went,recorded the song and came back. Next day I got a call from the producer that they liked my renditions very much.

3. It is little surprising for me that shelf movement of my cd from prestige outlets like Music World and Planet M have been steady.It is surprising that till date I do not have the blessings of ANY PROMOTION,No Music Videos,No Posters,Hoardings, Nothing but still there have been steady sales.

These three incidents had made me more determined about my chosen path. Success and failure are two sides of a coin and no one have any control over it but it gives me little strength to continue to walk in my chosen path.
Jai Ho.

Ebong Aro! - More Reviews for my Album

Here are the latest reviews for my debut album Apon Moné in two leading Bengali dailies, Aajkaal and Bartaman.

Allow me to say that these kind of positive reviews are very encouraging for an artist of my stature in his initial stage. I feel exceptionally blessed and fortunate for this string of positive reviews, and pray that I may also face any unpleasant reviews in the future with equal spirit and equanimity.

Bartamané Bartaman (My first album review)

My first review in the premier Bengali daily, Bartaman (11th October). Quite amazing... as most would consider that a mere mention in the article (titled Ebar Pujoy Notun Gaan) would have been enough for a first album. But actually, it appeared in special box column titled Sumantra Mitra-r Apon Moné. If you missed it, check it out below:

A Brief Introduction to the Songs

Sei Purono Din | Ganesh Kaku | Din Din

I met Rituparno Ghosh, who needs no introduction, during 1996 and the association and friendship is intact till date. I simply cherish and enjoy whatever little time I get to have an adda with him. During one such occasion, I told him that I had some tunes in mind, but didn't know any lyricists; I asked him if he could help me find one. He said, "Can I try?'' I was pleasantly surprised and replied, "Why not? Let's do it!"

The 3 songs mentioned above were created with his superb lyrical skill. Friends, I am not qualified to assert how great a film maker he is (it would just be a waste of time), but I suppose by now you know that he is also a brilliant lyricist. His recently released Khela and Megh Peoner Deshe in Titli, both superbly sung by Srikanto, is a dazzling testimony.

Apon Moné | Amanush

I used to know a bearded young chap in Scottish College. Our para was nearby, and over the years I have seen him emerge as one of the hottest and brilliant performers of Chandrabindoo. Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome Anindyo Chattopadhyay.

When I approached him to write a couple songs some 3 years ago, he replied in his usual tongue-in-cheek style, "Ranganda, ami nishchoi likhe debo, kintu tomar ja kajer chap tate amar mone hoy na tumi ekhon parbe. Tumi sur duto diye jao, ar tomar studio book kore bolo; ami 7 dine likhe debo.'' Needless to say, he was right; and he has delivered on time despite his extremely busy schedule. Thank you, Anindyo. I am grateful to you.

Chol Jai

This was penned by Tarun Singha, who had almost vanished from the scene; but I made him resurface. I am sure you would love the inherent simplicity in this song.

Bol Kon Suré

This was somewhat hurriedly written by Goutam Nag, the lyricist of Nogor Philomel (way back in 80s). He had to write the song in haste because of my determined persistence and he's still quite upset, as he thinks he needed a bit more time.

Bhola Mon

My main support, Mr. Indrajit Sen (I'd like to write about him separately) has a habit of listening to music regularly; and more importantly, from very uncommon sources. One day, he was listening to this song when I joined him. From then on, I forgot everything and Bhola Mon totally engulfed me! I was completely bowled over by the sheer simplicity of the tune and the magic of the lyrics. I asked him, "Who?" He said (typically), "Tui chinbi na. Shouvik Mishra bole ekjon ache." I said I would die if I couldn't sing this in my album! Indrajitda told me, "Shouvik is an excellent person, but very passionate about his music. So it would not be that easy." When I went to Anindyo to get his lyrics, I told him about this song and mentioned that I was desperate to sing it. Luckily, he said he knew Shouvik and would fix an appointment; and wished me the best. I met Shouvik in his office and found him to be a wonderfully gifted musician and a brilliant, creative person. We chatted for more than an hour and a half. He not only agreed to let me sing the song, but to my utter surprise, also came to the recording and lent his voice in the chorus! How many people in today's world would do this? My salaam to Shouvik.

Ei Gaan Shonate Ese

This semi classical song is very different from the rest of the songs in the album. I have tried to sing it with utmost care, as I know that even a minute slip here and there would raise many eyebrows, as ritualistic true blue classical musicians are extremely pedantic in their rendition. I have done the second cardinal sin as I have penned the lyrics myself! Ki aspordha.

Halka Jhalak

Hi Friends,

Finally my album has been formally launched. Here's the advertisement that came out in the Ananda Bazar Patrika.

Also, for those of you who can't wait to sample what I've served, here's a preview of all my songs in Apon Moné.

Hope you liked it. I'd be glad to know your feedback; so do add your comments below and let me know how you feel.

Jatra Shuru...

Bandhu,

I warmly welcome you to my Blog.

Hope you have listened to my first album, Apon Moné.

I would be extremely grateful to know your views—good, bad, ugly, everything—as it would help me to perform better and rectify my errors.

Just to state in brief, I have decided to quit a conventional career of 20 years (midlife crisis?) in FMCG/ Print and Television industry, and now aspire to concentrate fully on Music, a passion that I have been nurturing from my childhood.

Let me take this opportunity to invite you to come regularly to my blog; let us share our feelings and opinions.

I look forward to your response...

Cheers,

Sumantra (Rangan)