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The rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata last August shocked Kamalini Mukherji. The Indian singer living in New York was in her hometown Kolkata when the crime occurred in a state hospital. It highlights the sexual violence that women suffer worldwide. According to official figures, a woman or girl is raped in India every 15 minutes – the actual number is significantly higher. Mukherji did not stop at outrage; she took action. The performer of the Indian music genre Rabindra Sangeet (also known as Tagore songs), who participated in the Duisburg Chamber Music Festival "Eigenzeit" in May 2024 and later got to know the city on the Ruhr and Rhine during another guest stay, recorded the protest song "Aguner poroshmoni" together with a women’s ensemble (musicians from the Duisburg Philharmonic and guest artists). Culture expert editor Jörg Restorff spoke with Kamalini Mukherji about the background of the project.
How did it come about that you transformed the traditional song by Rabindranath Tagore into a protest song? And how do you explain the collaboration with the Duisburg Philharmonic?
K.M.:
It was a completely spontaneous reaction. When the rape and murder occurred in a state hospital, I was in Kolkata – the city where I was born and raised. There was great anger and a lot of uproar, and I participated in the protest marches. During the investigations against the perpetrator, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in January, there were issues of corruption among the authorities and concealment of facts. I felt the need to express my anger in an artistic form. On the return flight from Kolkata to New York, I was so shaken that I suggested to Nils Szczepanski, the artistic director of the Duisburg Philharmonic, to produce a music video together with the female musicians of his orchestra and guest artists. A song that not only responds to the recent crime but also targets sexual violence against women as a whole. We recorded the song in just one day, in the orchestra rehearsal room and in the EarPort/Garden at Duisburg's inner harbor.
"Aguner poroshmoni", this can be translated as "Touch my heart with the touchstone of fire". Contrary to what one would expect on this occasion, you avoid loud tones. On the contrary: The music video, arranged by Mahan Mirarab, directed by Alex Kla, is restrained, the performance almost introspective. Why?
M.K.:
The song goes beyond initial anger and outrage and becomes a prayer for purification and healing – it is not just a call for women's rights in India but for human rights worldwide. This call, which can be understood as a quiet but lasting protest, has resonated very positively. Many people who watched the video were brought to tears.
Why did you choose a song by the Bengali poet, philosopher, and composer Rabindranath Tagore for your music video?
M.K.:
I got to know his songs as a child – they were sung at my parents' house on Sundays. Later, Tagore influenced the entire community life. In the West, the universal and timeless art of Rabindranath Tagore is far too little known. I want to change that. He was ahead of his time. Even today, his songs are sung everywhere in India.
Is the collaboration with the Duisburg Philharmonic a closed chapter? Or is there a continuation?
M.K.:
I will be back in Duisburg in June because I will be participating in the "Marxloh Music Circus" – with this project, the Duisburg Philharmonic want to give the district of Marxloh a new image as a stage for world music. And in October I will be involved in a chamber concert at the Mercatorhalle Duisburg.
