Source: Hindustan Times
SANTINIKETAN, INDIA, December 28, 2000: Imagine tuning in to your favorite radio station and hearing Rabindranath Tagore’s verses sung to a catchy pop tune. The Visva Bharati Trust, to which Tagore willed all his words, is trying to interest young singers and musicians in over 2,300 verses penned by Tagore. According to Trust chairman, Dilip Kumar Sinha, the verses would be well suited to Western pop, rock, jazz, and even blues music. Anyone can put the verses to tune, with, of course, permission from the Trust, to ensure that the music provided and the manner in which a verse is sung is in keeping with the spirit of the original verse. Sinha feels the works are in danger of being lost and forgotten and insists Tagore would have no objection to his verses being sung to Western tunes. What do you think? Madonna? Michael Jackson? The Backstreet Boys? Tina Turner……?