Bloomers in Hillary's gift raises hackles
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Kolkata, May 9 (IANS) A mat presented by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with two lines from a song of Rabindranath Tagore printed on it has led to howls of protest for the spelling bloomers and wrong word usage.
The mat in "Kantha" stitch with Tagore's face and part of the Bengali song "Aguner Poroshmoni Choyao Prane" (touch the heart with the magicstone of fire), was handed over by Clinton to Banerjee during their meeting at the state secretariat Writers' Buildings Monday.
A visibly happy Banerjee proudly displayed the gift to the mediapersons after the meeting.
However, on close scrutiny it was found that the word "Poroshmoni" was wrongly spelt. What was worse, in the second line of the song which reads "He Jiban Purno koro", "Purno" was replaced by "Rinyo" and "Jiban" was misspelt.
"When it concerns Tagore and international diplomacy the US should have been more careful", said Sahitya Academy president and noted writer Sunil Gangopahdyay.
A spokesperson of the US consulate refused to comment on the matter.
However, sources said the mat was purchased in Kolkata from a local designer's collection.
"Whatever it be, the US should have been more sensitive to the sentiments of the Indians, particularly Bengalis, as Tagore occupies a monumental position in the heart and mind of the public," said a banker T.P. Dutta.
"It was an extremely immature artwork. As for the mistakes, Hillary and her delegation should have got the quality of the artwork evaluated by knowledgeable people. Nobody will talk about the designer's flaws. It will go down that the US, in its carelessness, has given such a gift that so glaringly lacks aestheticism," said writer Abul Bashar.
Read More: Kantha | Tagore Town | Hindi Sahitya Sammelan | Administrative Buildings | Ripon Buildings | Old College Buildings Po | Cuddalore Court Buildings | Co-operative Buildings | Ponniah School Buildings | Old District Board Buildings | Federation Buildings | Salem Dt.board Buildings | Salem Dt. Court Buildings | Sahitya Parisad Po | Mahendra Banerjee Road | Banerjee Chak | Jiban Nager Edbo | N.song | Mamata Banerjee | Rabindranath Tagore
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Comments:
Shamlu Dudeja
May 13, 2012 at 4:51 PM
Mrs Hillary Clinton saw ithe Tagore bust done in Kantha stitch at a crafts table on the 6th of May, 2012. She instantly liked it, felt the texture with her hands, and she immediately wanted to buy it. She said, " I want to buy it as a gift for CM". it was a very unique piece, embroidered by illiterate women in rural Bengal. The writing on this particular piece was finished in a hurry, because they were asked to complete it within 5 days to showcase to Mrs Clinton. These girls are being introduced to Tagore, whose works they did not know earlier. They put their passion and respectful sentiments in all the Tagore pieces that they have embroidered. They were delighted when they saw pictures Didi holding their 'kanthaar kaaj' in her hands. They meant no disrespect. Despite the conditions they live in, they have only love for their country, their State and Gurudev. It would have been kinder on their emotions if all those people who have made it to the front page because of their 'unique' views, had the courtesy of writing a few lines about the artistry and the incredible courage and determination which these girls have, to embroider a White silk fabric in their mud huts, and produce such fine work of stitch art. Obviously those who are Tagore scholars and found the mistakes, have never been to a village to see how these ladies live, and how they are being empowered through creating amazing Kantha textiles during their few hours of spare time, aftter the daily drudgery of house work.