Sarkar, Sadhan

Sarkar, Sadhan (1929-1992) musical artiste, composer was born in 1929 in Khulna town. His father's name was Keshabchandra Sarkar, mother's name Sukhada Sundari. Their ancestral home was at Dashorha village of Manikganj.

After passing the matriculation examination from Khulna BK Union Institute, Sadhan Sarkar concentrated on learning music. His interest in music grew inside a favourable family atmosphere and later he took lessons in classical music from ustad Shamsuddin Ahmed, Kishori Babu, Shahjahan and ustad Munshi Raisuddin. He also practiced music with Kalidas Chattopadhyay and Sukumar Mitra for some time. He developed expertise in classical music, Rabindra song, modern songs and drama-based songs. He was also a skilled player of sitar, flute, esraj, tabla, guitar, etc. On the other hand, he earned fame as a reputed composer of Gana-sabgeet and patriotic songs. In this field, he adopted the poems of Bangali poets through the ages and also inspired the contemporary poets and lyricists to write and compose numerous motivational and political songs. Notable among the songs he composed were: Nazim Mahmuds' 'Amader Chetonar Saikatey Ekusher Dheu'; 'Comrade Ei Rat Andhiar'; 'Ajagar Nihshash Charidhar'; 'Dealey dealey lotkey dao ekti na85Vietnam'; Abu Bakar Siddique's 'Banglar gharey gharey sangram jalanta jano ki'; 'Dragoner bohnibish halkay'; 'Banglar mati oti durjoy birjer santan'; 'Amra kajan adha adha adhunik nagarik'; 'Barricade bayonet bedajal', etc. He also composed melody for some poems of michael madhusudan datta, sukanta bhattacharya, jibananda das , krishna chandra majumder and the ancient poet of Charyapad bhusuku pad . His song 'Barricade bayonet bedajal' earned much popularity due to repeated broadcasts over Swadhin Bangla Betar (radio).

Sadhan Sarkar initiated in 1963 the idea of establishing the cultural organisation 'Sandipan' in Khulna. Poets and litterateurs like Hasan Azizul Haque, Abu Bakar Siddique, Nazim Mahmud, Khaled Rashid were involved with it. Apart from Sandipan, Sadhan Sarkar was also involved with various organizations and associations including Agrani Sangsad, Parabat, Surbitan, School of Music, Khulna Zila Sangeet Shilpi Sangstha, Ganashilpi Sangstha and Jatiya Rabindra Sangeet Sammilan Parishad. He died on 15 June 1992. [Saim Rana]