Hi Bachi,

I understand from your name and surname that you are not a bengali.

I am a Bengali living outside India for the last 10 yrs, I fail to understand why if you are not a Bengali by Birth, would be expected to sing a Robindrasongeeet or dance to it's tunes (if u r ragged everytime you went to Calcutta to sing a Robindro songeeet by ur Bengali friends then it is another story).

I have never seen such an event happening anywhere in Calcutta, Shantiniketan where someone is ridiculed or looked down for their inability to sing a Robindro Songeet.

FYI I myself dont know how to sing a Robindro Songeet, but that does not put my ancestry into question whenever I go back to Calcutta for a trip back home. FYI, myself and hundres of bengalis dont believe Netaji is alive, no way.

Indeed, a very fine tuned way of ridiculing Bengalis, this is unfair.

Rgds
Somnath

Nice. but I miss Shobha De! Where is she? I hope she is still alive.

Brilliantly put! As a "probhashi bangali" I suffer from several inadequacies, making the rare visits to Kolkata a trying time. This is perhaps one my favorite posts!

"...you will be exposed on the Tagore test." Absolutely true. Fluency in Bengali - speaking, reading, writing etc.- does nothing to relish or appreciate "Robindroshongeet". Except for a few, most of the compositions have lulled me to sleep. Trying to tell that to my friends has only evoked astonishment and outrage. My innocent queries, years back, on why the compositions can't be set to a different music was met with disbelief. Hmm! Now I can console myself that there are others who failed the Tagore Test!

'Naam se bachi aur kaam se aur bhi bachchi 'With your Mutton dhansak and patrani...diet you surely lack the finesse to comment on matters of the heart.After all your Erratica is more about watching the skin and not feeling it .I am a non resident Bong yet I feel your article annoys me more than it amuses.Call it a satire or mere set of observations with no malice intended ,I think you did a Tharoor this time.God help you if you are seen near Rabindra Sadan.May be you will get a feel of being the piece of Hilsa you talked about or the towel being wringed.Hallellujah!I bet you

Please add at the end..'I bet you will be clawing at the sky'

Nice writing as always by Bachi Karkaria. I'm a bengali and I can't believe that some people can take offense at this article. We Indians seriously lack a sense of humour. What's wrong with people nowadays? If you can't see how much Bachi is attached to bengali culture, then you need to go get your head checked, or perhaps get an education.

Hi Bachi,
We Indians often fail to understand our own people and it's culture. I don't understand why people distance themselves when it comes to the so called 'Tagore Test'. You have considered yourself an outcast amidst bengalis when they turn to Tagore, afterall you are an Indian and I see no reason why you should feel alien. In my opinion you start loving literary compositions when you understand the depth of it leaving aside the language of composition. From the write up it seems you have never understood why Rabindranath Tagore is revered so much and I don't need to explain why he is so iconic. You described Robindrosongeet as wailing and mourning. It is not the tune but the lyrics that makes Rabindrasongeet a gem in itself. After all it can't be sung with long shaggy hairs accompanied with an electric guitar and loud drums which we all like so much inspite of it's hollowness inside. Rabindrosongeet also can't be sung like Bryan Adams and if it would have been the rock and roll way you would have said "great" and wouldn't have felt alien and would have participated in the 'Tagore Test'. I am sure you can also pass the Tagore Test provided you know the meaning of his compositions and this will take a great deal of effort because you are already out of the track to know the rich treasures that lie inside Rabindrosongeet. Most the people will master the art of separating the treacherous bones of Hilsa in no time but it may take a lifetime to know what connects the bengalis and Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore.

Ms Karkaria.... a terribly exaggerated picture... a near caricature...
Yes, robindrosongeet is an integral part of the bengali culture, and it is best appreciated if you get the lyrics.... Unique to say the least, and few on earth have been that eloquent with their thoughts..
Having said that, Bengalis have done other things like sports( we all played basketball and tennis in our school days), play acting,and western classical music.There are a number of pianists in the community. We have grown up with our Jazz , latin music and 60s rock and roll.... yes and pleased to inform that we are not proficient in the "Gola dhore gaache" music. but we survived and are part of the Bengali society in Calcutta.

i doubt how many quality hours you have spent in bengal ,more specifically in Calcutta ,.. Mrs Karkaria . irrespective of the number of degrees you have ,... your education is not yet complete . this is certainly not expected from a cheap blogger like you with a limited knowledge about bengalis and Rabindranath . May I request Times Group to disallow this uneducated lady to talk about bengalis to blog .

Dear Ms Karkaria,
Is this post brilliant? I don't know. What I know, however, is that it is accurate. As a Probashi Bong, I share many of the adequacies described by you. I also totally agree with the “clawing in the sky” part. However, I can’t figure out Robindroshongeet and motions that accompany it. You have to satisfy both conditions – born as well as lived – I guess.I too must “Ekla Cholo Re”.

couldn't agree more... as a NOn-resident Bengali whos now posted in Kolkata.... I wish I could make myself invisible when people start rabindrasangeet or abriti... no words can describe the disbelief which shows on their face when I say I can't sing or dance or recite.

The piece reveals more about the writer than the subject. Bachi should have restricted herself to P.3 & Smart Alecs where she has creative expertise, and not dabbled into Tagore territory. Tagore has withstood the test of time, Bachi would be forgotten within a fortnight if she stopped writing today.

Dear Bachi,
I must first congratulate you on this well written post!! Very humorous, like most of your other blogs and posts...

But just a few facts from my life:
1. I am a Bengali, grew up in Kolkata, spent 21 years in that city and came from an educated, middle-class background....but I cant sing RobindraShongeet and trust me, noone ever ridiculed me or thought of me as a lesser mortal because of that!

2. I remember my undergrad days at Presidency College...it was the last day of our immediate senior batch. We didn't cry or sing the age old RobindraShongeet "Purano shei diner kotha" but instead we sang "Purani Jeans aur Guitar!"....Mind you, it was Economics Dept at Presidency College, a very elite institute of the city(you might not agree but Bengalis will still do), but nobody took offense for having not sung Tagore songs

So, I would say, this post, like many other posts that TOI publishes so often, is highly exaggerated in its view or may be just a figment of your own imagination.

Lastly (and this one is not a fact from my life, but a personal opinion):

Had Rabindranath been alive today, I would have requested him to translate all his songs (you know the exact number, 2230!) into a language that you understand...then probably, you would have forgiven the Bengalis for their overwhelming respect and love for "Bengal's Inescapable Icon" and his songs