DEMAND TO GIVE ‘BHARAT RATNA’ TO BABU LALAN JEE

DEMAND TO GIVE ‘BHARAT RATNA’ TO BABU LALAN JEE

28-JULY-ENG 11

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-------------------------------Speaking in the discussion organized after garlanding the statue of Shatrunjay Prasad Singh alias Babu Lalan ji at Bhikhari Thakur Cultural Forum situated in the local Patel Bus Stand premises, the speakers demanded “Bharat Ratna” for Babu Lalan ji and said that he came out of a small town like Ara and made his mark at the national level. Whatever be the family of classical music, they considered it an honour and were eager to come to Ara (Jamira Kothi). This is the reason that from that time onwards Ara started being called Mini Banaras. These things were said by the guests in the program “Classical Music and Babu Lalan Ji” discussion organized on the birth anniversary of Babu Lalan Ji. The program was presided over by National President of Savarna Kranti Sena Poonam Singh and conducted by journalist Narendra Singh. During the program, garlands were placed on the statues of folk artist Bhikhari Thakur and Ustad Bismillah Khan. The guests were welcomed by Pushpendra Narayan Singh.

During the discussion organized by Bhikhari Thakur Samajik Shodh Sansthan, former principal of Mahila College Dr. Saroj Singh and Shalini ji, who came as his disciples, shared memories of many classical conferences held during his tenure. While daughter-in-law Leela Singh, referring to the national conference in Kolkata, said that as part of a conspiracy, a huge mridang was placed in front of Babu Lalan ji, but he did not hesitate, rather played it with his feet and hands and won accolades in the conference. Even after coming from a royal family, he remained dedicated to the society throughout his life and promoted classical music. Advocate Atul Prakash presented the article written by theatre artist and journalist Ravindra Bharti on Babu Lalan ji in his own words. Due to which many people got new information about him. Among those involved in the discussion were National President of Senior Citizens Dhirendra Prasad Singh, Neerja Singh, Arpit Mishra, Swami Vikramaditya, Dr. R.C. Bhushan, Krishna Pratap Singh alias Pappu Singh, Narad Muni Tiwari, Dr. Dinesh Prasad Sinha, Anand Mohan Singh, Sarvjit Kumar, Doctor Nand Kishore Ram, Jitendra Kumar Singh, Yogendra Singh, Dr. Umesh Singh, Vyas Kamlesh, etc.