With mercury rising across the country, there is little one can do to comfort his/her soul. Enter Soumita Saha with her rendition of Rabindranath Tagore’s Riturongo in her upcoming project titled Nisarga Madhuri (Sweetness of Nature). This is fusion song where the sweetness (madhuri) of Shastriya Sangeet (Indian traditional music) is blended with Tagore’s songs, to create a musical portrait of various seasons. It depicts a mystical journey through the path followed by nature every year. The album Nisarga Madhuri shall be released on April 15, the occasion of Bengali New Year while its teaser shall be out on April 10.
Official Release Poster of Nisarga Madhuri. It captures the essence of Nisarga Madhuri.
Speaking about the project, Soumita says that there is one thing common between Tagore’s creation and our Shastriya Sangeet, both praise the beauty of nature and its seasons. Her attempt is to bring out the intersection of these two in Nisarga Madhuri. She cites several examples like Tagore’s creation for monsoon has been blended with Alaps of Miya Ki Malhar which is a well known Monsoon Raga. The whole project involves blending of Tagore’s songs for every season with relevant ragas and raginis, in an attempt to thank the nature for its sweetness bestowed upon us.
While parts of the country reeling under scorching heat this summer, a significant part of summer remains unexplored. As Jeanette Walls has put “One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by”. The season offers us lots of beautiful flowers, sweet fruits, which are unavailable in other seasons. Summer brings back lots of outdoor social activities impossible in the freezing cold winter. Not to mention the everyday’s desire of rainfall and the sweet time spent waiting for it, is what makes summer season special. While every other poet has praised Monsoon, only few have ventured into the beauty of summer. Without summer, monsoon wouldn’t have been what it is today.
The album then moves towards Monsoon. In her own words, Monsoon is so much like a girl in her 18, bubbly and unpredictable. Yes we do experience rainfall in other seasons too, but monsoon has beauty of its own. Moreover, the Petrichor during monsoon shower smells so heavenly that it’s beauty cannot be described in words.
The album has a special mention of Autumn and Late Autumn. Late Autumn is also known as Hemant in Hindi or Hemanto in Bengali. During Autumn, the sky turns haze blue and is filled with cottony clouds with kash flower fluting in winds and the paddy field turning golden. It is more like a shy bride hiding her face behind the veil of mists and dew.
While Winters are harsh and tragic in western countries, it is quite pleasant in India. This is the season when fields are full with paddy yields which is subsequently harvested, giving a golden shade to all around us.
The Spring season also finds a place in the Album as the season of love and colors wearing the winning garland of colorful petals. Not for nothing, Rabindranath Tagore adjectified it as Rituraj, which means the king of all seasons.
Team Nisharga Madhuri at work
The Album is also a major comeback project for Soumita who has been in limelight since her teenage days. While she shares the vocals with her father Swapan Saha, it is her mother Madhumita Saha who penned the script and is also actively involved in it. The Music has been composed by Kumar Prithviraj, Partha Pal & Uttam Ganguly, while recording and mixing has been done by Rana Modal. The Album shall be distributed under the banner of SBM CDs and Cassettes.