Name: Signature, Women of Bihar in Art History
Author: Reena Sopam
Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan
Page:144
Price: Rs 300/=
Recently, a book by senior journalist and art writer, Reena Sopam, published by Prabhat Prakashan, ‘Women of Bihar in Signature Art History’ has come out, which is based on the participation of women of Bihar in the history of performing arts.
In this context, it is necessary to give an information that although many books were published in the last three decades of the nineteenth century. One name is very important among these, ‘Bihar Darpan’ written by Babu Ramdin Singh. This book was published in the year 1882 and even stalwarts like Bharatendu Harishchandra praised it and said that this is the first book of its kind in Hindi. This book became a historical document, because it provides information about the thinking and understanding of the elite (some by birth and some by action) class of the nineteenth century.
In this book, for the first time, brief biographies of people were selected from almost every region of Bihar. People from all walks of life like businessmen, government employees, saints, wrestlers etc. were influencing the society in different ways.
A few decades ago, it was again published by Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation under the aegis of Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Bihar Heritage Series and made available to historians and researchers. But the point is that there is not a single woman’s name in this book whose absence was felt by the people. Secondly, not a single person in this book was taken from the field of theater or music.
Apart from this, another thing which attracts attention in the context of Bihar is that, whenever a book was written in South or Central Bihar, North Bihar, especially Mithilanchal-Seemanchal was sidelined. Rather, the veterans of Mithalanchal-Seemanchal also treated those areas in the same way.
Almost one hundred and fifty years after that Bihar Darpan, Reena Sopam’s book ‘Hastakshar, Women of Bihar in Art History’ has come out which can be considered a land mark in all these respects. Firstly, he talked about women, secondly, he kept art and cultural heritage at the center of the book and thirdly, the important thing is that he chose people from entire Bihar.
‘Hastakshar’ is actually the first attempt to show the biographies of the artists of entire Bihar, which Reena Sopam ji has beautifully divided into several cantos, so that justice can be done to all the people and it has happened.
Everyone knows that the performing arts of our country, especially raga music and classical dance art traditions, were confined to a particular category before the country’s independence. But in the years after independence, only a few women played a big role in taking the art tradition out of that special class. The important thing was that these women belonged to the elite society and they not only made the art tradition a part of the family, but also spread it throughout the society. In those days, leave alone raga music and classical dance, even theater was prohibited for the women of the elite society. Despite this, some women had stepped into this field very strongly and made their presence felt with their dedication and hard work.
19 such distinguished women have been discussed in this book. Folk artistes Vindhyavasini Devi, Kumud Akhauri, Sharda Sinha and Shanti Jain to sitar artist Girija Singh are discussed here. Rather, the contribution of Chandana Dey to Dr. Rama Das and Nalini Joshi in the field of art is also detailed, while the role of Navneet Sharma and Noor Fatima has also been highlighted. These women, who are active in various performing arts fields, belong to different language communities of Bihar.
Some of these women are Hindi speaking and some are women from Bengali speaking families settled in Bihar for centuries. But it was the connection with the art tradition that kept them together. There are some women among them who were born after independence, but since they created a new path in the art field and have been known as a ‘Pathmaker’, they have also been included in this compilation. Among these, some women are associated with classical singing and tantra playing and some are associated with folk songs. Some are classical dances and some are related to theatre.
How all of them traveled from the four walls of the house to the stage, those challenges are discussed here. And there are also talks about the role his family played in overcoming those challenges.
But this book is not just an account of the events of his struggle, but also documents the achievements he achieved in the field of art.
A section of the book focuses on the women of Bihar who played an important role in the art tradition and patronage of artists.
Everyone knows that art traditions and artists need patronage and support to move forward. In such a situation, the contribution of women active in conservation work cannot be ignored. Therefore, a section of the book is dedicated to those art patrons in which the activities of Begum Aziza Imam, Savitri Devi and Uma-Gauri Chatterjee have been discussed in detail.
It can be considered as documentation of the contributions and achievements of such distinguished women artists and art patron women of Bihar.
And the final chapter of the book discusses in detail the participation of women of Bihar in Kathak, North India’s only classical dance form. The thing to note here is that
Most of these women have been discussed very little and there has been little to no written information available about them.
Therefore, not only will the coming generations get information about them through this book, but the present generation will also get a chance to know and understand those women, many of whom they were unfamiliar with even by name. This book is a detailed proof of what role half the population of Bihar played in the art history of the state. Hence, for those who want to understand the art journey of the state better, it would be good to read this book.
Overall, this book is a collectible for those interested in the social culture of Bihar.
While expressing my gratitude to Reena Sopam ji for such fame, I would request her to prepare ‘Hastakhar’ as a series in many more parts, so that people can get adequate information regarding the prosperity of Bihar.
Shrutikar Jha
executive officer
Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation,
Darbhanga, Bihar
