Tagore in our Times

The Institute for South Asia Studies at UC Berkeley is delighted to announce the launch of the Tagore Program on Literature, Philosophy and Culture at UC Berkeley. Launched in Fall 2019, the Tagore Program on Literature, Philosophy and Culture at UC Berkeley is first of its kind in the US. Designed to showcase the life and legacy of Rabindranath Tagore, it will sponsor talks and workshops on Tagore, as well as other public events. It will also fund a semester-long visiting professorship in Tagore Studies at UC Berkeley. The afternoon will feature: Poetry recitation by Cal Bangla students Keynote Lecture: Tagore in our Times and His by Prof. Dipesh Chakrabarty. Rabindra Sangeet performances by - Kamalini Mukherji - Nandita Yasmin An abbreviated staging of Rabindranath Tagore's play, Tasher Desh by EnActe Arts. Presenter Bios DIPESH CHAKRABARTY Dipesh Chakrabarty is the Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in History, South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the College and the Law School. He is an Affiliate Faculty of the English Department and a resource faculty for Comparative Literature. He is also a Faculty Fellow of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory. Chakrabarty's educational background includes a BSc in physics with honors in 1969, a degree from Presidency College at Calcutta University, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management, which is equivalent to an MBA, from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1971. He obtained his PhD in history from the Australian National University at Canberra in 1984. He holds honorary degrees from the University of London and the University of Antwerp. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He is also a member of the Board of Advisers of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. Before joining the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1995, Chakrabarty headed up the Social Theory Program at the University of Melbourne. He has, by invitation, been a visiting faculty/fellow at many universities of the world including the Wissenschaftkolleg in Berlin, the University of California at Berkeley, Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, and Princeton University. His books include Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference (Princeton, 2000; 2007 second ed.); Habitations of Modernity (Chicago, 2002); Rethinking Working Class History (Princeton, 2000, 1989); and Itihasher Janajibon o onyanyo probondho (The Public Life of History and Other Essays) (in Bengali) (Calcutta: Ananda, 2011). His books have been translated into many languages including Arabic, German, and Chinese. Chakrabarty is also the co-editor of several books and the author of about 150 articles. He serves on the editorial boards of several book series and journals and was a founding member of the editorial collective of Subaltern Studies, a founding editor of Postcolonial Studies, and is currently a co-editor of Critical Inquiry. Chakrabarty's current research focuses on anthropogenic climate change and its implications for historical thinking, on the history of the idea of historical truth, and on historical genealogies of crowd-politics in India. Read more about Prof. Chakrabarty HERE. KAMALINI MUKHERJI Kamalini is one of the leading exponents of Rabindranath Tagore’s 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. In 2013 she went to Mauritius on a mission to teach and spread Tagore’s music in that country on a joint initiative between the Govt. of Mauritius and UNESCO, in commemoration of Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary. She has given a solo concert for the President of India, Sri Pranab Mukherjee, at Rashtrapati Bhavan (Indian Presidential Palace) in 2015. She has had solo and group performances at the North American Bengali Conferences (NABC) in 2013 in Toronto, and in 2016 in New York City. She sang for the 2005 movie Nishijapon, directed by Sandip Ray. She aspires to take Tagore’s music to a wider international audience, cutting across generations and geographical boundaries. 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 Bachelor’s 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 John’s College, Cambridge, UK for a master’s degree. On completing her degree, she spent a year in Collegio Ghislieri, University of Pavia, Italy on an exchange program with St. John’s College. She currently divides her time between Kolkata and San Francisco. Read more about Kamalini HERE. NANDITA YASMIN. Nandita Yasmin’s 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. During her time at ‘Shangeet Bhaban’ she had the rare opportunity to learn from musical luminaries like Sadi Mohammad, Rezwana Choudhury Bannya, Late Aminur Rahman Nijhu, and late Mridul Kanti Chakrabarti. She graduated from Shangeet Bhaban in 1992. In order to further refine & perfect her singing and understanding of Tagore music, Nandita received intensive training from famous Tagore singer Sadi Mohammad, who has a stellar musical background from Shanti Niketan. Eminent Tagore singer Mita Huq has also provided invaluable guidance and inspiration to her. 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. In 2011, Nandita represented Bangladesh Government at the celebration of Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th Birth Anniversary in Kolkata and Delhi. Nandita’s debut album ‘Bajabo Shornobeena’ was released in March 2008 to rave reviews. Her 2nd album ‘Abar Jodi Bhashai Bhela’ was released on May 30th 2010 by Bengal Foundation. Her 3rd CD was released in May, 2012 from the prestigious audio company HMV, Kolkata, India. Nandita’s latest album “Chondobondhone’ which is her 4th album was released by Bengal Foundation in May, 2014. 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. Kori O Komol’s mission is to cultivate Bengali cultural heritage through promoting Rabindra Sangeet among the Bengali speaking community, especially the next generation, who has an interest in promoting, sustaining, and learning the rich Bengali culture. Nandita holds Master’s degrees in Anthropology (from Jahangirnagar University, Banglasdesh) and Sociology (from George Mason University, USA). Read more about Nandita HERE. ______ Event made possible with the support of the Sarah Kailath Chair of India Studies Like us on FACEBOOK Follow us on TWITTER For DIRECTIONS to the Institute please enter "Institute for South Asia Studies" in your google maps or click this GOOGLE MAPS LINK. PARKING INFORMATION: Please note that parking is not always easily available in Berkeley. Take public transportation if possible or arrive early to secure your spot. The event is FREE and OPEN to the public.