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Why was a Manipuri girl singing Tagore as a farewell to theatre giant Ratan Thiyam?

The moving tribute that has gone viral has Gunchenbi singing Tagore's Ore Ggihobashi... to Thiyam, who passed away last month

Theatre Director Ratan Thiyam in New DelhiTheatre Director Ratan Thiyam in New Delhi. (Source: Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

Days before he passed away in Imphal, Manipur – a state riddled with ethnic conflict since 2023 – Ratan Thiyam, one of the most influential voices in Indian theatre, heard Rabindra Sangeet.

In a moving tribute that has surfaced on Instagram, Gunchenbi, a young Manipuri girl and daughter of Manipuri dancer Karuna Devi and noted composer and vocalist Surajkumar Wangkheirakpam, is seen sitting on the floor near the foot of an ailing Thiyam’s bedside at his home while singing Ore Ggihobashi, khol dwar khol, (O home dweller, Open your door), a noted song from Rabindranath Tagore’s oeuvre. Thiyam passed away last month at Regional Institute of Medical Sciences at the age of 77. Gunchenbi sings the song plainly, as if not aware of the weight of the moment. And that’s what’s most powerful and dramatic about it.

Tagore had used spring as a metaphor for spiritual awakening in Ore grihobashi, calling out the home dweller to open the door and savour the changing season, the fragrant blossoms. Gunchenbi also sang Bela boye jaye (The day is passing), which elaborates on the transient nature of time, the idea of seizing the present and embracing it all without any regrets. There is no microphone or any instrument, just Gunchenbi’s innocent voice rising in crescendo.

Thiyam and Tagore never met each other and were separated by time and geography. But Thiyam took a lot of inspiration from Tagore, exploring universal themes through local Manipuri idioms. A poet, musician and painter besides being a theatreperson, Thiyam was deeply inspired by Tagore’s work. He created a striking illustration of Raktakarabi (Red Oleanders), Tagore’s protest play about a tyrannical king who exploits his subjects, forcing them to toil relentlessly in gold mines. Tagore wrote the play in Shillong and Thiyam’s illustration showcases the protagonist Nandini bearing the weight of what she mines on her head along with the others who are exploited by a king who compels his subjects to labour. Thiyam engaged with Tagore for a full-fledged play as well and created Raja (King of the Dark Chamber, 1910), the story of a benevolent king who does not like the way he looks and does not step out of his dark chamber, thus disturbing his queen as well as the people he governs and eventually becoming the story of man’s search for meaning. It was staged a year after Tagore wrote it, on his 50th birthday. But the play in Bengali would go on to transcend divisions of region and language and in Thiyam’s hands becomes the story of an anguished queen’s battle with darkness.

Born in Nabadwip in West Bengal when his parents, both Manipuri dancers, were touring the state, Thiyam also knew Bangla well.

In a fractured Manipur, which has dealt with months of ethnic conflicts, Tagore’s music on Thiyam’s bedside, urging him to open the window for the blossoms, seemed far from the violence and the it’s continued pain. But it was an apt farewell to a significant pioneer of theatre, a voice of reason whose ideas of inclusivity, social welfare and spirituality rose above all else.


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  • Rabindranath Tagore Ratan Thiyam theatre
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