I have been listening to T. M. Krishna’s ‘unsung anthem’ from the morning. I never thought I would actually sit down and listen to the national anthem (he clarifies though that this is not the national anthem, but rarely-sung verses selected from the longer poem); listen, and listen again and think, and then I want to write something about it.
Author: Moushumi Bhowmik
Moushumi Bhowmik is an Indian Bengali singer and songwriter. Her songs are usually considered to belong to the "modern" song type. Her albums, including "Ekhono golpo lekho (এখনো গল্প লেখো)" and "Ami ghor bahir kori (আমি ঘর বাহির করি)" enjoy great popularity in Bengali-speaking areas of India and in Bangladesh.
I went to Pine Mount in Shillong in the seventies. I lived close to school, just behind the NCC office. So, my parents had made an arrangement with the school and I would come home to eat lunch with my mother (something I hated so, as I missed out on playtime and having lunch from a lunch box, but I was powerless and could not resist).
I grew up in Shillong in the 1970s.
My sister went to Loreto, me to Pine Mount, and in that insular world of ours all that mattered was the grades we got in school and the prizes I won for the (mostly Bengali) songs I sang at Ananda Sammelan.
Then we left.
Then we chose to leave.
Then we had to leave.