'Lost' Nazrul Geeti notebook to be unveiled on poet's death anniversary in Kolkata Monday

A notebook containing notations to his own songs and a handwritten manuscript by Bangladesh rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, which had gone missing for decades, will now be a star attraction at an archive near Kolkata city on Monday (29 August).

The book was found by chance at a College Street bookstall in 2015, several decades since it had gone missing.
The notebook will be unveiled on the poet's 46^th death anniversary.

The Jibansmriti Archive in Uttarpara, about 20km from the city, where the notebook will be unveiled, is devoted to the preservation of Bengali heritage and culture, reports Times of India.

According to archivist Arindam Saha Sardar, who found the treasure, the notations were written down by Jagat Ghatak and includes notations of 36-odd songs penned and composed by Nazrul himself.

In his memoirs, Ghatak wrote that Nazrul had taken this notebook along when he went to sing at the radio station on 5 February 1940.

He had referred to the notebook while singing.

Once the recording was over, nobody knew what happened to the book. "Ghatak wrote that Nazrul remembered every detail about who was present at the office, and he went searching for the book at their houses. But he couldn't remember how the notebook was misplaced. In grief, he remained bedridden for some time. A lot of people were asked about the book and advertisements were posted. But the book could not be traced," Saha Sardar said.

"I chanced upon the book while browsing second-hand books in College Street Boipara," Saha Sardar said, adding that he knew what a treasure trove it was, and later reached out to Ghatak's daughter for authentication."

Among the notations in the book are Nazrul Geetis like "Esho Chirojanamero Sathi", "Aay Ma Chanchala Muktokeshi", "Khele Nander Anginay", "Ami Patha-manjari", "Na Mitite Asha", "Sandhya Malati Jobe" and "Bano-kuntal Elaye".

The Jibansmriti Archive in Uttarpara also has a letter from Jagat Ghatak's daughter, Madhumita Mukherjee, mentioning how the book was lost, Times of India reported.

"She was happy it had finally been retrieved, and gifted it to the archive so that it could be digitized. I have preserved the original note book. On Nazrul's 46th death anniversary on 29 August, I want to give access to his admirers to take a look at it," Saha Sardar said.

For Nazrul's admirers, the archive also has some 350 rare books on him and the first edition of books written by him. Data on the films he had worked on have been collated, including booklets of some of those films. Among these is the booklet of a 1934 film titled "Dhruba" – the only film co-directed by Nazrul.

"He acted in it, and was also its lyricist, singer and music director. He was the lyricist and music director of Chowrangee as well, and wrote a song for Gora – "Usha Elo Chupi Chupi".

Earlier, companies would bring out small books during the release of records with all details. I have at least 50 such books in my collection. We have also digitised 1,400 songs of his released between 1925 and 1942," Saha Sardar told the Indian newspaper.