03/05/2026
A celebration of life happened yesterday afternoon at the ICCR. A celebration that was beyond genres, groups, societies, age everything. A celebration that brought in people from all parts of life and places beyond the boundaries of Kolkata together to celebrate the chord that unified everyone.
It was a reflection of his deep influence on people which left an indelible mark in their lives. A 3 hour program which felt like PEACE, SERENE and MUSICAL. The Impact of him on every soul was resonating from the walls of ICCR as we all sunk deep in his journey of life.
We also played a beautiful documentary on him, ' RAGHU RAI - AN UNFRAMED PORTRAIT', directed by his 'baby', his daughter, our very own Avani.
I thank you all for joining the collective in celebrating him. He can't be remembered as he can never be forgotten as was his impact, in each and every followers journey of life. That was Raghu Rai , fondly and respectfully also known as our GURUJI.
Aankhein moond kar zara Hindustan ki ek gali socho…
Shor, rang, bheed, afra-tafri…
Aur us ek lamhe mein janam leti kahaani socho…
Koi tha…
Jo us pal ko hamesha ke liye rok leta tha,
Tasveer bana kar nahi…
Sach, jazbaat, aur tareekh bana kar…
San 42 ke barood seene me liye janma jo,
Wohi barood ko roshni banakar tasveer bana liya wo!
Usne taqseem bhi dekhi, pehchaanon ka bikharna bhi…
Magar usne kalam nahi uthaya -
Usne roshni, saaye aur khamoshi ko apni zubaan bana liya…
Jab Bhopal Gas Tragedy ne insaaniyat ko jala diya,
Woh palat kar nahi gaya -
Woh aur kareeb aaya…
Uski tasveeron ne dard ko itna sach kar diya,
Ke duniya ne nazrein churaana chhod diya!
Woh sirf tasveer nahi tha,
Woh ehsaas qaid tha!
Indira ke haqeki aur Mother ke saadgi,
Ravishankar ka taan,
Ali Akbar ke gaan,
Sehnai bhi sunai deta tha Bismillah ke parchai me!
Uska kamaal yeh nahi
Ke usne kya dikhaya!
Balki yeh tha
Ke usne kya chuna dikhane ke liye!
Ek nazar jo thehar gayi,
Ek aansu jo girne se pehle amar ho gaya,
Ek aam lamha -
Jo hamesha ke liye tareekh ban gaya…
Sab uth khade hoke adab se salam kiye,
Sabne kiya wah wahee...
Aap rooh ki roshni the, roshni ho, roshni rahoge Sri Raghu Rai 🙏
Courtesy : suti Sutirtha Basu
