Two-day Sachin Mela begins today at Sachin Dev Burman’s ancestral home
Photo: Collected
A two-day ‘Sachin Mela-2026’ begins in Cumilla today in memory of Sachin Dev Burman, the subcontinent’s celebrated singer and master composer.
The Cumilla district administration is organising the fair on 30 and 31 October in the courtyard of Sachin Dev Burman’s ancestral home at Chartha in the city. This year’s theme is ‘Leaving the earthly realm, for the empire of melody’.
The first day of October, 1 October, is Sachin Dev Burman’s birthday, and the last day, 31 October, is his death anniversary. The district administration organises the fair every year. Marking the artiste’s birth and death anniversaries, this year’s fair features a colourful procession, a discussion and cultural programmes. On the first day, today (Friday, 30 October), a colourful procession will set out from the city’s Yusuf High School at 3pm.
Md Monirul Haque Chowdhury, member of parliament for the Cumilla-6 constituency, will be the chief guest at the discussion and cultural programme marking the fair.
The special guests include Md Yusuf Molla Tipu, administrator of Cumilla City Corporation; Md Anisuzzaman, superintendent of police of Cumilla; and Md Ashiqur Rahman Mahmud Wasi, chairman of Cumilla WASA. Deputy Commissioner Rozy Akter will preside.
Taking part in the first day’s discussion will be Dr GM Moniruzzaman, a professor in the Bangla department of Comilla University; writer and researcher Advocate Golam Faruk; and Jabed Ahmed Kislu, joint convener of the JASAS central committee.
The organisers said the aim of the fair is to present Sachin Dev Burman’s musical life, work and cultural contribution to the new generation and to keep his memory alive.
District angle
According to a report in the daily Ittefaq of 29 October 2022, Sachin Dev Burman was born on 1 October 1906 at Chartha in Cumilla town; as a child he studied at the town’s Zilla School and Victoria College, and he lived in Cumilla until 1924. He died in India on 31 October 1975.
A Risingbd feature notes that a memorial plaque on the wall of the Chartha house records that National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam once came to the house as a guest.
Sources
Original report: BSS
Background sources: Daily Ittefaq, 29 October 2022; Risingbd, date not stated
