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Debabrata Biswas (also known as George Biswas and George-da; 22 August 1911 – 18 August 1980), was an Indian Rabindra Sangeet singer.

Early life

Biswas was born in 1911 in Barisal, and moved to Kishoreganj in the Mymensingh district of Bengal province in British Colonial India. King George V was visiting India for the Delhi Durbar around the time of Biswas' birth, so he was nicknamed George. He was popularly called George Biswas and George Da.

Career

Biswas' music was notable for its exceptional depth of emotional expression combined with an exploration of the subtle dramatic element in Tagore's lyrics. His early gramophone recordings of Tagore songs brought out in the early 1940s demonstrate soulful, full-throated expression of melody with a strict adherence to the rules and norms of tradition, written and unwritten, which he felt obliged to break in the early 1960s.

His voice at this period ranged at ease within the three octaves and with varied tempos and rhythms and showed a greater variety of emotional expression from the thunderous and rumbling to the soft and mellow. Some of his renditions that go deep into the heart of Bengalis include Akash bhora surjo tara, Purano sei diner kotha, E monihar amay nahi saje, Klanti amar khoma koro probhu, Je ratey mor duarguli, Tomar kache e bor magi, Chokher joler laglo joar, Swapne amar mone holo, among others.

Biswas was the only singer who sang Rabindra Sangeet in Sanskrit, English, German, French, and Russian. He received training in foreign language at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata.

Filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak worked with Biswas for song selection & playback of Tagore songs in films, many of which became popular. Debabrata Biswas was actively engaged with IPTA group for a long period. He sang a few songs set to music by Salil Choudhury, Hemanga Biswas, Jyotirindra Moitra and recorded songs during the liberation movement of Bangladesh. Kazi Nazrul Islam himself was the trainer when Debabrata recorded songs by Nazrul.

Conflict

Authoritarian eyebrows started to be raised from 1964 onwards with the liberties Biswas took by challenging the published tune-notations, scansion, traditional tempo, beat and rhythms which were commonly associated with Tagore lyrics, as well as with his use of Western musical instruments for the purposes of accompaniment and interlude – an practice that remained with him till his death. He challenged the sensibilities of Tagore song listeners with the use of the Spanish guitar, the saxophone, the clarinet, the piano and the cello along with the sitar, the sarod, the esraj and the violin. Despite these departures from tradition, Biswas retained notability amongst a diverse population.

In the later part of the 1960s, Biswas was seriously challenged by the authorities over his audacious style and quite a number of his records were prohibited from commercial production for reasons attributed to wrong spirit, wrong tempo and other melodic excesses not regarded as harmonious to the purity of Tagore compositions. Although initially he did brace himself to meet the challenge, he retreated later and on his own volition stopped all record production. As further controversy fueled, his public live performances continued with an ever- increasing demand but with age (now he was 60) and a declining voice and his lifelong asthma affliction, he withdrew from public appearance, venting his anguish and frustrations in his autobiographical reflections: Bratya Janer Ruddha Sangit (or The Stifled Music of an Abandoned), published in 1979, a year before his death on 18 August 1980.

Personal life

Debabrata Biswas lived a simple, modest and spartan life at a rented flat in South Calcutta, receiving a post-graduate degree in economics from Calcutta University, eventually retiring in 1971 from the Life Insurance Corporation of India, where he held a clerical position. Biswas held party membership with the Communist Party of India till the mid-1950s. However, he was hurt at the fact that a conflict had arisen among the core groups of the Communist Party itself. Hence, when Marxist Communist Party of India was formed, he was in a confused state. However, he remained in touch with the communist party till his death. In one of his memoirs he has said: "When the party got divided into two sections, I was confused, because I was attached to the members of both, Communist Party of India or CPI, as well as the newly formed Communist Party of India (Marxist). So, I decided to remain away from active politics. However, I must confess that I have been lucky to get the true love of all the members of both the wings of the communist party all through my life."

Apart from Rabindrasangeet, he is known to have held the masses spellbound with his booming and baritone voice singing Ganasangit or Peoples' Songs in party gatherings, meetings and plenary sessions up to the mid-1950s. He remains one of the towering personalities of the peak era of Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), as a cultural delegate of which he visited China twice in the early 1950s with other great cultural luminaries from India. He recorded his experiences with China in a book titled Antaranga Chin or China of My Heart.

A broad-hearted man of caustic humour even to the point of self-mockery, buffoonery and feigned frivolity, he was fond of sketching and often gave drawings along with autographs. One such signature features himself praying to Tagore and another showing Tagore hitting a sixer with a cricket bat. Immensely popular as he was, he had shunned the press and the media all his life, not even allowing his own photographs or career history on blurbs or record covers.

He lent his voice to a number of films and after his death was the subject of a documentary film by his name, based on archival footage and interviews.

To this day, he remains a popular exponent of the art of Rabindra Sangeet, a model of orthodoxy when orthodox, and an icon of protest against the establishment, organized media and cultural dictatorship when breaking away from the orthodox.

His legacy: Debabrata Biswas's younger sister, Lalita Biswas was an accomplished singer with very similar vocal qualities and a strong theatrical personality with IPTA. The family is known to be reformers and have contributed to the upliftment of the societal challenges at the time. Her sons, Kumar Shankar Chakraborti and Jati Shankar Chakraborti among the four children, were particularly close their uncle, with whom they received musical training. Kumar Shankar succumbed to a heart condition at a very young age. Jati Shankar was known to have a very similar vocal quality as Debabrata Biswas. He did not pursue music professionally but as a rather as a passion project.

References

1. "Biswas, Debabrata - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
2. "Debabrata Biswas' birth anniversary celebrations". The Daily Star. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
3. Ghosh, Labonita (23 October 2000). "Rabindranath Tagore's music may finally unshackle with Visvabharati's copyright set to end". India Today. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
4. "Bengal remembers Debabrata Biswas on his 103rd birthday". news.webindia123.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
5. "Remembering Debabrata Biswas in Dhaka". The New Nation. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
6. Ronojoy Sen (22 May 2010). "An unequalled music". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 April 2016.

External links

• Biography at debabratabiswas.in

• 1911 births
• 1980 deaths
• Bengali singers
• People from West Bengal
• Singers from Kolkata
• University of Calcutta alumni
• Rabindra Sangeet exponents
• 20th-century Indian male singers
• 20th-century Indian singers