Atul Prasad Sen

Jehangir Hussain

Jehangir Hussain

Atul Prasad Sen October 20, 1871 – 26 August 26, 1934) was a Bangali composer, lyricist and singer, and also a lawyer, philanthropist, social worker, educationist and writer.

Atul Prasad Sen was born as the eldest child of Ram Prasad Sen and Hemanta Shashi, in a Vaidya family from the village Magor in South Bikrampur, presently located in Bangladesh.

Atul was born in his maternal uncle's house in Dhaka, following the custom at that time. His maternal grandfather Kali Narayan Gupta initiated Atul Prasad into music and devotional songs. Atul Prasad's father died, his mother  Hemanta Shashi married Brahmo Samaj reformer Durga Mohan Das in June 1890. Durga Mohan was father in law of scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose.

Initially, Atul Prasad could not accept this marriage. In due course of time, his relationship became very congenial with Durga Mohan and Hemanta Shashi. Sarala Devi recounted in her diary জীবনের ঝরাপাতা (Fallen Leaves of Life) that Durga Mohan, after the death of his wife Brahmoamoyee, in spite of his busy outward life, took great care of his children. It was his elder daughter Abala, whose eager and consistent effort towards the wellbeing of her aging father convinced Durga Mohan to marry Hemanta Shashi. Durga Mohan extended every possible care to his stepchildren too and treated them as his own children.

After passing the Entrance examination in 1890, Atul Prasad was admitted to Presidency College in Calcutta, and in the same year in the month of November took a voyage to England to study law.

In London, he befriended Aurobindo Ghosh, Chittaranjan, Sarojini Naidu and Dwijendralal Ray.

After becoming a Barrister, he returned to Bengal in 1894 and joined Satyendra PrasannoSinha, (Lord Sinha), as a Bar-at-Law. Successively he opened up law practice in Calcutta in a rented apartment at 82, Circular Road. When his step-father Dugamohan died on 19 December 19, 1897, he opened practice in Rangpur court.

The High Court at Calcutta, which used to be known as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, was established and formally opened on 1 July 1862. Atul Prasad was called to the Bar in Calcutta High Court in 1895. He was a member of the Bar Library Club of Calcutta High Court.

The ecstatic resonance of Atul Prasad Sen's (1896) lyrics is heard in every Bengali home. Again, the poet of 'The Song of the Ocean' (Sagara-Sangeet) in his Vaishnavite melody surrendered himself completely to the Almighty.

The High Court at Calcutta - 150 Years: An Overview remembered Atul Prasad in this fashion:

Atul Prasad Sen, a member of the Club, was a poet, lyricist, composer and lawyer all moulded in one, whose songs and poems inspired many a young heart in pre-independence days and are cherished even today.

Atul Prasad married his cousin sister Hem Kusum, daughter of Krishna Govinda Gupta, ICS, and Prasanna Tara Gupta. The marriage was disapproved by their family members. The couple wedded at Gretna Old Parish Church, Gretna Green, Scotland, under Scottish Law in the year 1900. However, Atul Prasad had a troubled married life. The emotional sufferings he experienced in his life found their way into his lyrics, and this has made many of his songs full of pathos.

His twin sons, born in 1901, were Dilip Kumar and Nilip Kumar. Nilip died after six months of his birth.

After his marriage, Atul Prasad started practicing law at Old Baily, London and continued for a very short duration. Then with the help of Bipin Bihari Basu and upon advice from his friend Mumtaj Hussain, an advocate in Lucknow, he came back to India in 1902. He chose the province of Oudh as his field of activity and moved to Lucknow.

In 1922 the first conference of Bengali literary personages outside Bengal (Prabasi Banga-Sahitya Sammelan, presently known as Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan) was organised at Benars with patronage from distinguished 'Bengalis living outside Bengal' (Prabasis) like Atul Prasad Sen, Radha Kamal Mukherjee, Kedar Nath Bandyopadhyay and Mahendra Chandra Roy, which was presided over by Rabindranath Tagore. Atul Prasad initiated and edited Uttara, the Bengali magazine of the organisation, to keep alive the Bengali culture among the Bengali Diaspora.  Later, he presided over its Kanpur and Gorakhpur conventions. He was also the editor of Allahabad Law Journal and Awadh Weekly Notes.

Since 1903 Atul Prasad served the Bengali Club of Lucknow, which was founded by Atul Krishna Singh, as the President. In 1929, he initiated the idea of merging the Bengali Club and the Young Men's Association of Lucknow, and thus emerged a new organisation to be known as Bengali Club and Young Men's Association.

Atul Prasad played an active role in national politics between 1905 and 1921. He was a close associate of Gopal Krishna Gokhale. In 1905, when Gokhale was elected president of the Indian National Congress and was at the height of his political power, he founded the Servants of India Society to specifically further one of the causes dearest to his heart: the expansion of Indian education. Atul Prasad was sympathetic to the nationalistic movement and extended his support and generosity to the Congress Party and Servants of India Society founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He joined Indian National Congress and represented Oudh in several annual conventions. He acted as Vice Chairman of Lucknow Municipal Corporation. In 1917 he joined the Liberal Party.

He actively took part in conversion of Lucknow Canning College founded by Raja Dakshina Ranjan Mukhopadhyay to Lucknow University and acted as a member of the first Executive Committee. He extended aid to many educational institutions.

Atul Prasad Sen Memorial Girls' College, Lucknow, established in 1902 under the name Mahalaki Pathshala, humbly bears the name of its principal patron. From Mahakali Pathshala, the name was changed to Harimati Balika Vidyalaya. In 1933 it received temporary recognition for High School and intermediate from U.P Board. It was at this time it acquired the name Jubilee-girls School. In 1944, the school received permanent recognition for High school. It advanced to an Inter college in 1947, and to a Degree College in 1955.

Atul Prasad built his residence in Kesharbag area in Lucknow, which was located next to the labour court complex.[19] The cost of the building was around thirty-three thousand Indian Rupees. The building was demolished and does not exist now. It is so unfortunate that such a nice specimen of colonial architecture, the famous residence of Atul Prasad Sen which witnessed the visit of so many distinguished personalities of pre-Independent India, is no more. A photograph of the house is available on the website of Sri Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Lucknow.

The A P Sen Road, running in front of the residence, was named after him during his lifetime. This road still runs in the Charbag area of Lucknow.

Atul Prasad used fast-paced Hindustani tunes like Kheyal, Thumri and Dadra skilfully, and was able to add an element of spontaneity on occasions when the tune transcended the lyrics.

Atul Prasad is credited with introducing the Thumri style in Bengali music. He also pioneered the introduction of Ghazals in Bengali.

Atul Prasad's acquaintances with maestros in Urdu and Persian Ghazal inspired him to experiment with this particular style to be brought into Bengali music. He created around six or seven Ghazals in Bengali and pioneered a stream of Bengali music which was later enriched profusely by the contribution of Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Atul Prasad's introduction of the raga to the Bangla songs had a significant impact on Bengali music and influenced the songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam and other raga-based modern songs. The songs created by him are known as অতুলপ্রসাদের গান (Atul Prasad's song).[22]

Atul Prasad wrote 212 poems and except a few most of the poems were used as songs. Unfortunately, none of the songs were dated. Only three among these 212 poems were titled (অর্ঘ্য, সাগরবক্ষে জ্যোৎস্নাসুন্দরী, প্রত্যাবর্তন).

Atul Prasad himself, in his book গীতিগুঞ্জ (Geetigunja), arranged his songs into five broad categories: দেবতা (Devotional), প্রকৃতি (Nature), স্বদেশ (Patriotic), মানব (Humanity) and বিবিধ (others). He did not explicitly categorize any of his songs into the category of love. However, many of his songs, having multi-layered associations of deep emotional sentiments, bloom into expressions of love and lug deep shadow of sadness, which was his constant companion.[1]

Atul Prasad created unique love songs, driven by passion of his own life and estranged relationship with his wife. The deep emotional turmoil in his mind had been reflected in his love songs.

Atul Prasad was a follower of Brahmo faith, a reformation of the prevailing Brahmanism of the time. Atul Prasad created many songs devoted to Brahmo faith. Also, some of his compositions are dedicated to the faith of Vaishnavism (worshiper of Lord Vishnu or Sri Krishna - হরি), Shaivism (worshiper of Lord Shiva) and Shaktism, where the metaphysical reality is considered feminine (Mother Kali or Mother Universal).

He employed a variety of folk tunes in his compositions apart from using Classical Ragas.  Kirtan, Baul, Vatially and Ramprasadi tunes were prominent among them.

Atul Prasad helped to awaken nationalism in colonial India by creating various patriotic songs. During his first voyage to England in 1890, Atul Prasad passed through Italy and, being inspired by the tune of the Gondola rowers' song in Venice, he composed his patriotic song, উঠ গো ভারত-লক্ষ্মী.

উঠ গো ভারত-লক্ষ্মী, উঠ আদি-জগত-জন-পূজ্যা,

  দুঃখ দৈন্য সব নাশি করো দূরিত ভারত-লজ্জা।

    ছাড়ো গো ছাড়ো শোকশয্যা, কর সজ্জা

      পুনঃ কনক-কমল-ধন-ধান্যে! Goddess of grace of India,

O rise you world-respected!

End all woes and sorrows, and

Remove her shame dejected!

Ideology of Unity in Diversity and Indian Pluralism was conceived and urged by Atul Prasad in this song. 

The following song, venerating the Bengali language, played an equally significant inspirational role in the struggle for independence of India in 1947 as well as in the struggle for the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.

মোদের গরব, মোদের আশা, আ- মরি বাংলা ভাষা; (মাগো) তোমার কোলে, তোমার বোলে, কতই শান্তি ভালোবাসা।(Our pride Our hope, O thy our Bengali language)

Sahana Devi, Atul Prasad's cousin, edited and published 70 songs, along with her staff notations, in কাকলি (Kakali) in two volumes.[c] in 1922 Sahana Devi and Harendranath Chattopadhyay recorded Atul Prasad's song on Gramophone Company's record.

In 1932 three recording companies having Indian ownership were born in Calcutta, one of which was Hindusthan Music Products Ltd, founded by Chandi Charan Saha. Chandi Charan approached Rabindranath Tagore for contributing his voice to the first record under the banner of Hindustan Records. In July 1932, Rabindranath Tagore sang, তবু মনে রেখো in the house no. 6/1, Akrur Datta Lane near Subodh Mallick Square. The second record consisted of two songs sung by Atul Prasad Sen, being the only instance the poet recorded his voice. Atul Prasad sang:

"মিছে তুই ভাবিস মন! তুই গান গেয়ে যা, গান গেয়ে যা আজীবন!"[34][35] and

"জানি জানি তোমারে গো রঙ্গরাণী, শূন্য করি লইবে মম চিত্তখানি"[36][37]

The third one with two songs was sung by Renuka Dasgupta (née Sengupta), one of which was পাগলা মনটারে তুই বাঁধ, a song written by Atulprasad.

যদি তোর হৃদযমুনা (Jadi tor hridjamuna) ~ Harendranath Chattopadhyay (1937) HMV

সে ডাকে আমারে (Se dake amare) ~ Pahari Sanyal (1970). Film directed Aranyer Din Ratri by Satyajit Ray.

Atul Prasad was the youngest member of Khamkheali Sabha founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1896.

He was also a member of Pancha Kobi (Five Poets) Rabindranath, Dwijendralal Sen, Rajanikanta sen, Atul Prsad and Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Atul Prasad died in Lucknow but he was buried at the Brahmo Temple in Kaoradi also called Kaoraid in Sripur, Gazipur, Dhaka.

The temple was established by Sir Krishna Govinda Gupta, ICS, maternal uncle of Atul Prasad Sen. Gupta was India’s sixth ICS officer.

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