They were an eclectic bunch whose names would in the passage of years be known across the length and breadth of India long after their meeting place has ceased to exist. For their ideas and ideology together with the ways of putting them into practice would make Mrinal Sen, Salil Chowdhury, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Tapash Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and Bijan Bhattacharya icons in their respective fields.

Freedom had brought dissent in its wake. And it became the ringtone of the creations of Salil Chowdhury, one of the participants of this adda whose claim to fame lay in penning and setting tune in Bengali, Hindi and Malayali hit songs., apart from ten other languages.

A member of Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), Salil has already had two of his songs (Bicharpati Tomar Bichar and Dheu Utche, Kara Tutche) banned by a colonial power. The seniors of IPTA in Bengal noted his talent and gave him more responsibilities in the then burgeoning cultural resurgence 1995.

Dissent and a desire to give vent to it through Chowdhury's subsequent songs were dormant in his heart. And he was en route to attaining a great reputation. There was much more to come from Chowdhury whom Naushad had felicitated as "Composer of composers". It was to his credit that he composed Mausam Bita Jaye adopting “Polyushka Polye" the marching tune of Red Army.

The world of Indian music certainly became poorer by the passing away of this multifaceted man on September 5 , 1995. He was born in a middle class family on November 19, 1925, the same month Ritwik Ghatak was born. Tracing the path along which notes and tunes were embedded into Chowdhury's mindset one has to delve into his early youth.

His father, Gyanendra Nath Chowdhury, a doctor in a tea garden at Assam planted his own affinity for tune and rhythm in his sons. Salil's elder brother Nikhil Chowdhury introduced him to bamboo flute from which he graduated to violin and piano.

Thereafter, Chowdhury played many chords in his life. And he played them just right. The lyrics and tunes of his songs were full of hope. A desire to take on the uncertainties lying ahead head on lay in them. Chowdhury's repertoire was vast and varied to say the least. Sweet lilting tones of folk music happily coexisted with Indian classical music together with songs of egalitarianism. Songs of this composer extraordinary were marked by intricate gradation. Quivering notes were deftly placed into interim fissures.

Freedom of thought and emotions were the hallmarks of Chowdhury's earlier works. After all, the nation has just won its freedom and it had its effect on his works. As a member of IPTA, Chowdhury put poet Sukanta Bhattacharya's poems Abak Prithibi and. Runner to tune. It marked the rise of a new star in Indian musical firmament though little did he know that in the days ahead some of the words of his song would earn him criticism from his fellow travellers leading to a parting of company.

Jagte Raho / Ek Din Ratre, Madhumati, Parakh and Anand are only a few of the films whose chart buster songs he had written and put to tune. Not many fans of his Bengali and Hindi film songs are aware of the success of Chemmeen, a film about a Kerala fishing community.

Edited by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, it won the President's gold medal. Small wonder, many Malayalis claim Chowdhury to be one of their own. Ideas poured forth from Chowdhury's pen justifying his unadvertised claim as an author, poet and composer who developed a stylistic language all his own. Armed with his childhood memories of the songs of the tea plantation workers, he showed that it had no quarrel with chamber music.

Chowdhury was a wholetimer of the IPTA in his early days. His shifting to the then Bombay at the call of his friend Rishikesh Mukherjee and director Bimal Roy opened a new successful phase in his life. He brought in into the Bombay film milieu all his experiences as a story writer, poet, lyricist and composer. He created a unique fusion of the best of Indian folk songs with the western orchestra and the Latin American music.

Salil set up Bombay Youth Coir which did a fantastic job in reviving the rich folk and traditional songs of all parts of India as also the famous international songs mainly belonging to the movements for civil liberty and social justice. After his stint in Bombay, he shifted to Calcutta and continued with his experiments in music composition as also teaching music to aspiring singers till his last days poet. (IPA Service)