Atulprasad Sen

Atulprasad Sen (Bengali: অতুলপ্রসাদ সেন) (20 October 1871 – 26 August 1934) was a noted Bengali composer, lyricist and singer, and also a successful lawyer, great philanthropist, social worker, educationist and literateur.^[1][2] He is principally remembered as a musician and composer. His songs centred on three broad subjects- patriotism, devotion and love. The emotional sufferings he experienced in his life found their ways into his lyrics; and this has made some of his songs full of pathos.

Atulprasad is credited with introducing the Thumri style in Bengali music.^[1] He also pioneered Ghazals in Bengali, composing about 6 or 7 ghazals.^[2]

Early life

Atulprasad Sen was born as the eldest child of Ramprasad Sen and Hemantashashi, in a Vaidya-Brahmin family hailing from the village Magor in South Bikrampur, Faridpur District, presently located in Bangladesh. He was born in his maternal uncle's house in Dhaka (as was the custom at that time). He had three sisters. His father was a school teacher in Dhaka. Later, with help from Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, he studied psychiatry and became the superintendent of the Dhaka Mental Asylum. Unfortunately Ramprasad died when Atulprasad was a toddler. Atulprasad was raised by his maternal grandfather Kali Narayan Gupta, who was a renowned Brahmo social reformer. It was Kali Narayan who initiated Atulprasad in music and devotional songs. Atul Prasad`s mother later married prominent Brahmo Samaj reformer Durga Mohan Das.^[1]

After passing the Entrance examination in 1890, Atulprasad studied at Presidency College in Kolkata, and then went to London to study law. In London he met Sri Aurobindo Ghosh, Sarojini Naidu, Chittaranjan Das and Sukumar Roy (1911-13) among others. After successfully becoming a lawyer, he returned to Bengal and joined with Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, or Lord Sinha, as an apprentice. Successively he opened up law practice in Rangpur and Kolkata. Later he moved to Lucknow.

Work In Lucknow

Atulprasad Sen practised law in Lucknow from 1902 to 1934. He attained wealth, prosperity and fame as a lawyer, and in due course of time became the president of the Oudh Bar Association and the Oudh Bar Council.^[1] He had distinguised himself amongst the citizens of Lucknow not only for his fame as a lawyer, but with diversified activities and social works.

In 1922 the first conference of Bengali literary personages outside Bengal (Prabasi Banga-Sahitya Sammelan)was organised at Varanasi with patronage from distinguished 'Bengalis living outside Bengal' (Prabasis) like Atul Prasad Sen, Radhakamal Mukherjee, Kedar Nath Bandyopadhyay and Mahendra Chandra Roy, which was presided over by Rabindranath Tagore. Presntly the annual conference is known as Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan. He initiated and edited Uttara, the bengali magazine of the organisation, to keep alive the Bengali culture among the Bengali Diaspora^[3]. Later, he presided over its Kanpur and Gorakhpur convensions.

In 1929, Atulprasad initiated the idea of merging of the Bengali Club, founded by Atul Krishna Singh, and the Young Men's Association of Lucknow, and thus emerged a new organisation to be known as Bengali Club and Young Men's Association.^[3]

He was sympathetic to nationalistic movement and extended his generosity to Congress Party and Servants of India Society founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He actively took part in setting up of Lucknow University and acted as a member of the first Executive Committee. He extended aid to many educational institutions. "Atul Prasad Sen Memorial Girls' College, Lucknow", established in 1904 under the name Mahalaki Pathshala, humbly bears the name of its principal patron till date.^[4]

Contribution in Music

Lucknow played an important role in Atulprasad's musical creation and experiments. At this time, he used to hold musical soirees almost every evening at his residence where maestros like Ustad Ahammad Khalif Khan, Ustad Chhotey Munne Khan, Ustad Barkat Ali Khan and Ustad Abdul Karim Khan used to sing. Engrossed in such musical sessions, he used to forget to attend his clients. He wrote most of his Bengali songs during his residence in Lucknow. He was able to internalise the Hindustani rendition style well since he lived almost half his life in northern India. Such exposure led Atulprasad to introduce the raga-based classical idiom, especially the thumri, a speciality of Lucknow, into Bangla music. Atulprasad adapted the Hindustani style to fit Bangla songs, without distorting their tune and measure. He added a new dimension to Bangla songs and opened the way for further experiments. Atulprasad used fast-paced Hindustani tunes like Kheyal, Thumri and Dadra skilfully, and was able to add an element of spontaneity on occasions when the tune has transcended the lyrics.

His songs based on Indian classical music have considerable artistic merit. Examples of such songs are Ki ar chahiba balo (What more shall I ask for?/ Bhairabi/tappa kheyal), Ogo nithur daradi (O the merciless/ mixed Ashabari-dadra/tap thumri), Yaba na yaba na ghare (I won't go home/ thumri), etc. His raga-based songs include Bandhu dhar dhar mala (o my friend, take the garland/ kalingda), Tabu tomay daki bare bare (Yet I call you/ Sindhu Kafi) continue to stir people.

Atulprasad's introduction of the raga to the Bangla songs had a significant impact on Bengali music, and influenced the songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam and other raga-based modern songs. The songs created by him are known as অতুলপ্রসাদের গান (Atulprasad's song).

Family, Friends and Acquaintances

Maternal grandfather: Kali Narayan Gupta

Parents: Ramprasad Sen and Hemanta Shashi

Step father: Durgamohan Das

Wife: Hem Kusum Sen (daughter of Sir Krishna Govind Gupta and Prasanna Tara Gupta)

Sisters: Hiran Sen (wife of Dr. Ramaswamy Iyenger), Kiran Sen (wife of Sarojmohan Babu), Prova Sen (wife of Sheshadri Iyenger)

Step Sisters: Lady Abala Bose (wife of Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, Sarala Roy, Shailabala Roy

Step Brothers: Satya Ranjan Das, Satish Ranjan Das, Jyotish Ranjan Das

Daughter: Bela Sarkar (wife of Dilip Sarkar)

Rabindranath Tagore's first visit to Lucknow was on invitation from Atulprasad in 1914^[5]. Tagore was accompanied by Andrews and Atulprasad joined with them at poet's cottage at Ramgarh.^[6]

Satyajit Ray, in his memoir^[7], wrote, "I have a few memories of a visit to Lucknow, where we stayed first with my mother's cousin, Atulprasad Sen, and then with his sister, whom I called Chhutki Mashi. There was always music in Atul Mama's house, for he was a lyricist and composer. Often he would get my mother to learn his songs, then write the words down for her in her black notebook. Ravi Shankar's guru, Alauddin Khan, used to stay in Atul Mama's house at that time. I heard him play the piano occasionally. One day, the well-known singer of those times, Sri Krishan Ratanjankar, visited us and sang his famous song, Bhavani dayani, set in Bharavi. Atul Mama wrote a new song, Shuno, shey dakey aamarey (Listen, he's calling out to me), based on Bhavani dayani."

Publication

গীতিগুঞ্জ (Geetigunja), published by Jyotirindranath Das, Secretary, Sadharon Brahmo Samaj, 211, Cornwallis Street, Calcutta 6. 1931, Calcutta. ( It was a collection of 193 songs created by Atulprasad Sen, and eight songs were included in a later edition after the death of the poet published in 1957).

কাকলি (Kakoli) (the notation book of the songs written by Atulprasad Sen), Sadharon Bahmo Samaj, Calcutta.

Atulprasad - A Biography by Manasi Mukhopadhyay. 1931. Signet Bookshop, Calcutta 12.

Abismaraniya Atul Prasad by Nupurchhanda Ghosh. Bangiyo Sahitya Parishad, Kolkata.

Atulprasd Sener Shrestha Kabita edited by Shovan Shome.

References

1. 1 2 3 4 Sayeed, Khan Md (2012). "Sen, Atulprasad". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. 
2. 1 2 Arnold, Alison (2000). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Taylor & Francis. p. 851. ISBN 0-8240-4946-2. 
3. 1 2 Hasnain, Nadeem (2016). The Other Lucknow - An Ethnographic Portrait of a City of Undying Memories and Nostalgia. Vani Prakashan. p. 249. ISBN 978-93-5229-420-6. 
4. ↑ http://www.apsencollegeonline.org/pdf/Prospectus.pdf
5. ↑ http://sesquicentinnial.blogspot.in/2011/12/rabindranath-at-lucknau-with-atul.html
6. ↑ Som, Reba (2009). Rabindranath Tagore - the singer and his song. Penguin India. ISBN 0670082481, 9780670082483 Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help). 
7. ↑ Ray, Bijoya (1998). Childhood Days - A Memoir by Satyajit Ray (translated from Bengali). Penguin India. ISBN 978-01-4025-079-4.