Sunday, April 11, 2010

Wayward city

Will Nimtala Ghat turn into Rabindra Ghat? If it does, it will be part of a great Calcutta tradition

Union minister of shipping Mukul Roy has expressed a desire to rename Nimtala Ghat as Rabindra Ghat. Some feel it would be apt, not as an honour to Rabindranath, but symbolically. A burning ghat named after Tagore would, with the right touch of morbidity, announce the final departure of Bengal’s greatest culture icon from contemporary life, which is happening unchecked anyway, irrespective of the number of Rabindrasangeets being remixed for the audience of multiplex Bong films.

But many more object to the idea, for many reasons.

Says writer Sunil Ganguly, one of the most vocal critics of the proposal: “Rabindranath was cremated at Nimtala Ghat. But that does not mean that the ghat’s name has to be changed.” Professor Swapan Chakraborty, who teaches English at Jadavpur University, agrees that the change is uncalled for. “If a change has to be made it should be to the name of some benefactor, such as with Kashi Mitrer Ghat, not of a celeb cremated there. Could one name a burial ground after someone buried there?” he asks.

Full report here Telegraph

No comments:

Post a Comment