The Padma Shri award, the country’s fourth-highest civilian honour after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan, is conferred upon the unsung heroes who silently contribute to the field of art, science, social services etc.
Here’s a quick look at the eight people from West Bengal who received the Padma Shri award and their contributions in their respective fields.
Ratan Kahar
In 2020, Bollywood singer Badshah’s song ‘Genda Phool’ ran into a controversy. The reason — the song had a portion taken from the famous folk song ‘Boroloker Bitilo’ without any credit being given to the original singer. No guesses here on who was the real singer as the controversy led Ratan Kahar to finally come to limelight.
Kahar, a Bhadugan artist, began his journey by singing Bhadu songs. Bhadu songs are a form of folk songs related to the festival that goes by the same name, celebrated in the southwestern parts of West Bengal.
A resident of Suri in Birbhum, Kahar has devoted over 60 years to folk music. His first song was recorded for a programme on Prasar Bharati in 1972. Back then, Kahar had received Rs 77 and 15 paisa as remuneration.
Apart from Bhadu, Kahar is also famous for other forms of folk songs such as Tusu, Jhumur and Alkab. So far, he has written around 250 songs with the most popular among them being ‘Boroloker Bitilo’ which he had started singing from the age of 16.
Kahar said, “As far as I remember, I sang ‘Boroloker Bitilo’ in Prasar Bharti. Later, I gave the song to Rajkumar Saha of a different clan. They used to sing the song and from there, the song started spreading. Later Swapna Chakraborty copied the song from my notebook and recorded it in 1976 and even back then I was not given due credit. Many people have claimed songs written by me as their own. I am poor and helpless. What can I do if people do not give me credit?”
After ‘Genda Phool’ ran into a controversy, people from West Bengal started taking to social media to slam Badshah for not giving Kahar credit. Later, the Bollywood singer did give Kahar his due credit.
Gita Roy Barman
Gita Roy Barman is a Bhawaiya singer. Bhawaiya is a form of folk song which originated in the northern parts of undivided Bengal.
Barman, a famous singer of West Bengal, is a resident of Mathabhanga in the Coochbehar district. She has been working with Akashvani radio as an artist for nearly 30 years now.
Nepal Chandra Sutradhar (Posthumous)
Nepal Chandra Sutradhar, a practitioner of Purulia’s dance form Chhau and a maker of the masks used while performing the dance form, was conferred with the Padma Shri (posthumously) for his contributions to the field of art.
Chhau is a form of folk dance that involves martial arts and folk traditions and the costumes mostly include the use of specially-designed masks.
Born in Purulia, Sutradhar passed away in November 2023. Sutradhar, who made masks for over five decades before passing away, had started teaching the art of mask-making at the age of eight.
Dukhu Majhi
Also a resident of Purulia (Sindri village), Dukhu Majhi has till now planted over 5,000 banyan, mango and blackberry saplings on the barren lands of West Bengal and Jharkhand.
People lovingly call Majhi ‘Gach Dadu’. Manjhi has been honoured by the Government of India for his excellent work in the field of environment. Gach Dadu is 78-year-old and has been contributing towards afforestation for over five decades now along with creating awareness among people.
Dr Eklabya Sharma
Dr Eklabya Sharma is an esteemed ecologist with over four decades of experience in sustainable mountain development. Sharma has been awarded in the field of science and engineering. He has more than 210 publications in the form of books, chapters and research papers in international journals.
Dr Narayan Chakrabarty
Dr Narayan Chakrabarty, PhD, FRMTS (Fellowship Regenerative Medicine and Translational Science), was a visiting Professor at the Post-Graduate Department of Zoology, Maulana Azad College, Kolkata.
A PhD in Chemistry and a Post-Graduate Fellow of Regenerative Medicine and Translational Science, Dr Chakrabarty has vast experience in Medicinal Science. A former Scientific Consultant and Director, West Bengal Biotech Development Corporation, Department of Biotechnology, Government of West Bengal, Dr Chakrabarty was a member of various technical committees of the Department of Biotechnology.
He is the sole editor of a global book – Arsenic Toxicity: Prevention and Treatment published by the CRC press Taylor & Francis Group.
Dr Chakrabarty has vast experience in conducting programmes and remediation of Arsenic toxicity. He was also a resource person in various such programmes under the sponsorship of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Government of India.
He has authored a book on Reaction Mechanism and has also authored ‘Karona Atimarir Itikatha’ (Everything about the Covid Pandemic) and ‘Dharma Sikhsha Rajniti’ (Religion, Education, Politics) — both in Bengali.
He has written hundreds of articles on contemporary problems in daily newspapers and journals in Bengali and English. Dr Chakrabarty has retired from the Maulana Azad College as the Head of the Department of Chemistry.
“This award and honour will inspire me further to work. Also, I dedicate this award to all the people for whom I have worked and developed technologies using the country’s resources. I am sure this will further inspire the younger generation to work in the field of medical science,” said Chakrabarty.
Takdira Begum
Takdira Begum is a master craftsperson of Kantha embroidery. Kantha embroidery is a centuries-old tradition of stitching and embroidering recycled pieces of cloth.
Mainly practiced in West Bengal, Bihar and Bangladesh, Kantha embroidery generally refers specifically to the simple, straight and running stitch forms. Kantha was never commissioned by the kings, nor ordered by the landed gentry but was passed down in learning and gifted by mothers to their daughters.
Begum, a resident of Birbhum district, taught and trained the women of adjacent villages in Kantha embroidery and encouraged them to develop financial independence. What was started by Begum, has now turned into a full-fledged project run by Begum and her family which supports over 215 women embroiderers.
Sanatan Rudra Paul
Sanatan Rudra Pal, is the man behind most traditional or as they are called in West Bengal, sabeki Durga and Kali idols. Paul is a famous artist of Kumortuli in Kolkata.
He is known for his majestic and towering Rudrarani Durga idols which are sculpted with immaculate anatomical perfection.