দেবীপক্ষ শুরু হয়ে গেলI In 1931, a 26-year-old Calcutta radio man was told he could not recite the Chandi Path on air because he was not a priest. He recited it anyway, and 95 years later, Bengal still wakes at 4 a.m. on Mahalaya to hear Birendra Krishna Bhadra. The programme was Mahishasuramardini, first broadcast live at dawn from Akashvani, Calcutta, in 1931. Script by Bani Kumar, music by Pankaj Kumar Mullick, and one voice that would come to define the start of Durga Puja. When orthodox critics objected to a Kayastha chanting the Chandi, Bani Kumar refused to drop him. The orchestra itself included Muslim musicians. It was Bengal’s syncretic genius, broadcast before sunrise. For 35 years it went out live. From 1966, Akashvani has played a recording, the same one millions still switch on today. In 1976, AIR replaced it with “Durga Durgatiharini”, narrated by Uttam Kumar, the biggest star in Bengal. Listeners revolted. The next year, Bhadra was back. Nobody has tried since. Bhadra died in 1991. The voice did not. A short animated film on the man and the broadcast that became a ritual 👇শুভ মহালয়াI In 1.18 minutes.