'Phagun Haway Haway' is a Bengali poem by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Shirin Soraiya has rendered a light musical version of it, which is delightful to listen to and joyful to view. Born in Murshidabad district, West Bengal, to parents who were not musicians, Shirin took her basic training in Hindustani classical, which she learnt for nearly six years. Her first Rabindra Sangeet tutor was a well-known exponent, Maitreyi Majumdar, a disciple of the legendary Suchitra Mitra. She always wanted to carve out a career in performing arts and culture, but obliging her parents, she prioritised education, passing an M.A. in English and also a B.Ed. In 2012, she married and found a schoolteacher’s job. Two years later, their daughter was born.
During the Covid lockdowns of 2020, she and her family withdrew from Kolkata to their country home in their native place. She said in an interview with Different Truths in 2022, “In 2020 on Pochis e Boishakh (Tagore’s birth anniversary), I launched my first song, which was much appreciated and warmly received. Now, having made up my mind to learn the technical aspects, I seriously delved into technical books to master the techniques of sound effects, sound engineering, recording, editing, etc.; I even fixed up a home studio for the purpose.”
“I personally feel, as of now, Rabindra Sangeet is heavily chained and shackled by draconian rules and regulations, which the budding artists often find oppressive and intimidating. There is an erroneous idea doing the rounds that Tagore’s music is meant only for esoteric groups. But that is not so. Tagore wanted his music to permeate the lives of even the lowly and meek”. She added, “I nurture a dream: it shall be my endeavour to liberate Tagore’s lyrics from pseudo bondages and put it within the grasp of the common man.”
Shirin Soraiya attributed her success to Facebook (now 443K followers) and YouTube (now 43K subscribers). (Source: 'Shirin: Liberate Tagore’s Lyrics for the Commoners', Different Truths, March 12, 2022).
'Phagun Haway Haway' produced by Pradyut Chaterjea, premiered on Shirin Soraiya’s YouTube channel on 29th December 2024. I am grateful to her for kindly agreeing, when her permission was requested, to post the song, with an English translation from the website Geetabitan, on ‘Timeless Music and Talks’.
Minor changes have been made to the English translation of Anjan Ganguly's that was posted on the Geetabitan. Gratitude to the translator and the website for making it available free for all. Thanks to Sumita Chakraborty (West Bengal), who helped identify a tree named in the poem. It was well worth the effort, as it turned out to be not 'fir' as in the translation but saltcedar (Jhau, red tamarisk, or tamaris).
For non-monetary, non-profit, cultural and educational purposes.
Watch the music video at: youtu.be/SbPvF7rx4NQ
