The Tagore Program on Literature, Philosophy and Culture is delighted to celebrate Pochishe Boishakh, the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
Event will feature:
-- Recitation and musical presentation of "He Nutan" by Sakti Das and Waziuddin Chowdhury.
-- Musical dance drama performance by Nandita Yasmin and Labonee Mohanta.
-- Recitation in English of a Tagore poem titled, An Ordinary Girl by Tannistha Mukherjee
-- Rabindra Sangeet performance by Kamalini Mukherji
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DATE: Saturday, May 8, 2021
TIME: 9 am (Berkeley) | 9:30 pm (Kolkata) | 10 pm (Dhaka) | Calculate Your Local Time
REGISTER: Online Here
LIVESTREAM: at ISASatUCBerkeley and ChowdhuryCenter
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WAZIUDDIN CHOWDHURY
Wazi is the Director of Project Management at San Francisco Unified School Districts Facilities Bond Program. He is a licensed Architect in the State of California since 1990, Member of the American Institute of Architects and an Accredited Professional in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). He is also a member of Bangladesh Environmental Network (BEN) and the Community Advisory Panel for the City of San Francisco on the development of Building Codes and Earthquake Safety Implementation program. Chowdhury received his Masters in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelors of Architecture degree from Illinois Institute of Technology at Chicago. He has been involved in several award‐ wining projects, and received personal commendation from the American Institute of Architects Scholastic Award, the AIA School Medal and the Certificate of Merit from the Henry Adams Fund for Excellence in the Study of Architecture.
SAKTI DAS
Sakti, a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh and Canada and fellow of the American College of Surgeons is a retired professor of Urology at UC Davis. A graduate of University of Kolkata, India he did his post graduate study for Masters in Surgery at University of Delhi, India and then pursued post graduate studies in UK, US and Canada. Dr. Das has received several honorable citations from The American Urological Association for his philanthropic work in the developing world. He was awarded the Albert Schweitzer teaching award by the Societe Internationale dUrologie. In his retired life he continues to pursue teaching in Global Surgery with international medical missions in the developing world. He supports many primary education centers and an orphanage in India, Kenya, Bangladesh and Niger. The seed money for the Tagore Program on Literature, Culture and Philosophy at UC Berkeley was provided in 2018 by Drs. Maya and Sakti Das, both long time supporters of Bangla Studies at UC Berkeley as well as of the Institute.
LABONEE MOHANTA
A disciple of Kathak maestro Pandit Chitresh Das, Labonee began her training in Kathak dance at the early age of 8. She is a prominent solo artist, having performed Kathak solos to great acclaim in dance and music festivals throughout the United States, Canada, India, and Europe. Labonee has toured extensively with the Chitresh Das Dance Company and served as center director and senior teacher at her Gurus institution for many years. Labonee also teaches workshops internationally, including in India, USA, France, and Ireland. As a second generation Indian based in America, she plays a significant role in preserving the cultural heritage of India in the East and spreading these values in the West. She represents a new generation of high caliber Indian classical artists and continues the mission of promoting, educating, and thus preserving the rich heritage of Kathak.
TANNISTHA MUKHERJEE is an actor/dancer active in SF bay area. Tannistha is from India and was born and raised in a Bengali family hailing from the city of Chennai. As a polyglot fluent in Bengali, Hindi and Tamil, Tannistha was exposed to different cultures and thus has learnt different Indian art forms such as Bharatanatyam and Bollywood Dancing. When not on stage you will find her teaching, reading and exploring new cultures.
KAMALINI MUKHERJI
Kamalini is one of the leading exponents of Rabindranath Tagores songs, known in India and Bangladesh as Rabindra Sangeet. She has been trained from an early age at Dakshinee, a leading Rabindrasangeet academy in Kolkata, India. Over the last 11 years she has performed extensively in India, US, Canada, and Bangladesh, and has been a regular face on Bengali television in India, Bangladesh, and the Bengali diaspora across the globe, including the US. Kamalini has 12 albums with one of the leading music labels in India, Saregama, 7 of them solo. This includes a prestigious Best of Kamalini collection. A student of South Point school, Kolkata, Kamalini completed her Bachelors in English Literature from Jadavpur University, India with a gold medal in 2001. She then won the (Bill) Gates Cambridge Scholarship and went to St Johns College, Cambridge, UK for a masters degree. On completing her degree, she spent a year in Collegio Ghislieri, University of Pavia, Italy on an exchange program with St. Johns College. She currently divides her time between Kolkata and San Francisco.
NANDITA YASMIN
Nandita Yasmins initiation to the realm of Rabindra Shangeet happened at the tender age of 5 at the hand of Late Moshad Ali. She started taking formal training in Rabindra Shangeet in 1983 at the music school Shangeet Bhaban which was led by famous Tagore singer Kalim Sharafi. Nandita has been performing in Bangladesh Television & Bangladesh Radio since 1991. She had also performed regularly on Tara Muzik channel in Kolkata. Nandita won the 7th Citycell Channel i award in 2011 as the best Rabindrashangeet singer for her album Abar Jodi Bhashai Bhela produced by Bengal Foundation.Nandita is now settled in Fremont, California with her family but continues her music career and regularly performs in USA and Bangladesh. She runs a music school Kori O Komol in Fremont where she teaches Rabindra Sangeet. Nandita holds Masters degrees in Anthropology (from Jahangirnagar University, Banglasdesh) and Sociology (from George Mason University, USA).
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The event is FREE and OPEN to the public.
