Paper2 - 20 Century Indianwriting (Unit-1) PDF

The Home and the World: Rabindranath Tagore
English: Subject
Lesson : The Home and the World: Rabindranath Tagore
Course Developers : Ajanta Dutt and Sujata Nag
College / Department : D e s hb and hu C o l l e g e ,

U ni v e r si ty o f D e l hi
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Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi
Tagore's Biography
Early Life
Rabindranath Tagore
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/tagore.htm
Rabindranath Tagore was born on 25th Baisakh, May 9th 1861, at the reputed Thakur-bari
of Jorasankho, Calcutta. ‘Tagore’ was the British appellation given to the surname ‘Thakur.’
The family home was situated in the area of Chitpur and today this stately mansion is the
home of the Rabindra Bharati University, a seat of learning that specializes in the arts—
especially music, dance and the fine arts. The Tagores belonged to the rich and powerful
elite, the highly cultured class of Bengali society. The children of the household grew up
mostly under the supervision of faithful family retainers and domestic help, yet they had all
the privileges of socio-economic and political awareness so prominent at that time among
the educated families.
Rabindranath’s father was Maharshi Devendranath Thakur, founder-member of the Brahmo

Samaj with Raja Ram Mohan Roy and others, and his mother was Sarada Devi.
Rabindranath was born just after his father returned from the Himalayas where he had gone
to meditate for divine fulfillment. The child was their fourteenth, and was fondly called ‘Rabi’
meaning ‘the sun’ at home. His mother died when he was only 14 years old. By that time he
was already a rebel, protesting against going to school and any kind of formal education.
Although he was enrolled in the Oriental Seminary, his attendance was poor despite the
efforts of his brothers. He would often play by himself upon one of the many staircases in
his home. He writes, “The wooden bars of the railing were my pupils, and I would act the
schoolmaster, cane in hand…. None remain to bear witness today how tremendously I
tyrannized over that poor dumb class of mine.”
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He soon joined the Normal School where he had to learn English, but the words failed him.
All he can remember, says the poet, is the line of a song: “Kallokee pullokee singill mellaling
mellaling mellaling” which he construes as “…full of glee, singing merrily, merrily, merrily.”
He did, however, come first in Bengali, and even when the teacher, Pandit Vachaspati,
complained about favouritism and he was re-examined, he still topped the class.
One day, when he was dreamily watching the rain falling upon the window-sill, two lines he
had probably read in a child’s primer flowed unbidden into his mind—“ jal parhey, paata
narhey [water drops, leaves quiver]”. He was struck by the cadence and rhythm of such a
simple, conversational thought, and rhyme and rhythm always took very significant place in
his poems and songs. Soon after, he read a poem of his own creation at a public gathering,
the Hindu Mela on May 11, 1875.
The children of the Tagore family were not allowed to go out, and they mostly played in the
inner courtyards or espied the visitors who came to their door. This is how the young
Rabindranath came into contact with Gabriel the Jew, selling his attars and ointments and
dressed in richly embroidered gabardine, and of course “the huge Kabulis, with their dusty,
baggy trousers and knapsacks and bundles.” The impression he retained from those early
days appears in the poignant short story written later.
Jorasanko’s Thakur-bari
http://images.ilovekolkata.in/stories/caltour/jorashanko.jpg
Tagore became deeply interested in the old Vaishnav poetry of Bengal which were collected
and published when he was in his teens. Although the language which was mixed with
Maithili was difficult to understand, Tagore persisted. Then his friend Akshay Chowdhury
told him the story of the English boy-poet, Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770) who had written
poems of his own and attributed them to a fictive 15th century writer called Rowley. The
young poet committed suicide in London at the tender age of seventeen. Although the end
did not appeal to Rabindranath, the rest of the story did. He decided to write under a
pseudonym.
On a monsoon morning, the poet recounts, “I lay prone on the bed in my inner room and
wrote on a slate the imitation Maithili poem Gahana kusuma kunja maajhe.”
Thus he wrote Bhanusingher Padabali. Then he told his friend that he had found the pages
of a “tattered old manuscript” between the pages of a book in the Adi Brahma Samaj
library, and indeed it was so much in the framework of an original Vaishnav Padabali that
his friend wanted to take it to the publishers immediately. He was quite crestfallen when
Tagore proved they were his. The name Bhanu is of course a synonym for Rabi, the sun.
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However, Tagore states that when these poems were actually being published in the
magazine Bharati, a gentleman named Nishikanta Chatterjee was writing his thesis on the
lyric poetry of India in Germany. He assigned the lyrics of Bhanu Singha a very prominent
place in his doctoral work, as “one of the old poets, such as no modern writer could have
aspired to.” Later critics do say that there are several lines that should immediately have
cast suspicion upon the authorship. One such line is “Maran re, tuhu mama shyam
samaan…”[Death, you are akin to my Shyam]. Apparently, a true Vaishnav Padavali writer
will never compare and make equal anyone or anything with Lord Krishna!
Bhanusingher Padavalli
http://www.natarajdancers.org/images/Bhanusingher.jpg
Education
The love for theatre was well known in the Thakur-bari. Tagore’s older brother
Jyotirindranath wrote a play named Alik Babu in which Rabindranath played the title role,
with his sister-in-law Kadambari Devi playing the romantic lead. He also wrote a critique of
Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s famous Bangla epic Meghnadbad Kavya in his “youthful vanity.”
Tagore’s critical appreciation was published in the prominent journal of the times, Bharati,
started by his brother Jyotirindranath. He also contributed a narrative poem in verse called
“Kavikahini” (The Poet’s Story) to the first issue. Tagore confesses that he was later quite
embarrassed at the thought of these immature forays into the world of literature.
Soon his second brother proposed that he should accompany the former to England. At first
he went to Ahmedabad where he was a judge. As his sister-in-law with the children was
already in England, Rabindranath was left to his own devices for most of the day. He made
the acquaintance of Victorian poet Alfred Tennyson in his brother’s capacious library, and
although he found the text obscure, it did charm the poet. He learned English with the help
of a dictionary, and continued to read whatever he could. It was during this sojourn that he
composed a song to the Rose-maiden and set it to music.”
Tagore sailed to England in the company of his elder brother Satyendranath Thakur on 20th
September, 1878. The purpose was to study law and become a barrister. He attended the
lectures of several scholars, among them Henry Morley and sent home letters entitled
Europe Probashir Patra [Letters from a Foreigner in Europe] to be published in the Bharati.
But soon he tired of his foreign sojourn and returned home the following year. Even though
he did not have a formal degree, he had gathered a fair knowledge of Western music.
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In February 1881, Tagore’s dance-drama Valmiki Pratibha was staged in Calcutta at

Jorasankho. Another great Bengali Writer, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay watched its first
performance with Tagore in the lead role. Around this time, Rabindranath gave a few
lectures on Music and Mood at the Bethune society, but soon left for England again. This
time he was accompanied by his nephew Satya. They could sail no further than Madras, so
homesick were they; Devendranath felt that it was now best to send his son to Silaidaha in
East Bengal to look after the family estates.
In 1883, Rabindranath was married to Mrinalini Devi. Very soon after, his sister-in-law and
confidante Kadambari Devi died suddenly at the age of 25. Amartya Sen writes that
Rabindranath “maintained a warm friendship with, and a Platonic attachment to the
literature-loving wife, Kadambari, of his elder brother Jyotirindranath. He dedicated some
poems to her before his marriage, and several books afterwards, some after her death.”
One of the poems written to her memory is “Chhabi [Portrait] and the poet calls her “kobeer
antarey tumi kobi” (the poet within the poet’s heart).”
Tagore’s married life was also rather brief as Mrinalini Devi passed away in 1902. He lost
several of his children too in quick succession. He once wrote to his wife that “If we could be
comrades in all our work and all our thoughts it would be splendid, but we cannot attain all
that we desire.” This statement reveals that Tagore always thought about interpersonal
human relationships, especially those between man and woman, and these debates
continue in his novels and short stories.
Tagore and his wife Mrinalini Devi

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/articles/sen/index.html
At the turn of the century, the neo-Hindu followers were trying to prove that Hinduism was
superior as a religion, and the Maharshi thought it best to put his son in charge of the Adi
Brahmo Samaj. The last quarter of the 19th Century was also rife with political fervour, and
Tagore decided to attend the second session of the Indian National Congress in 1886. He
was asked to sing a song that he had composed for the occasion. This is why many of his
patriotic songs listed in the Swadesh section of the Geetobitan do not belong to the National
Movement ending in 1947, but were composed earlier for the 1905 Partition of Bengal.
This period saw the publication of major works by Tagore. This was the first phase of his
writing career, and he published Bhanusingher Padabali in 1884, Kadi o komal in 1886,
Bauthakuranir Haat in 1883 and dance drama Mayar Khela in 1888. The last was written at
the request of Sarala Ray, founder of Gokhale Memorial School, for a performance by the
students. Tagore’s journey to England by sea had also been recorded in the form of a
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diary—Europe Jatrir Diary. His return from England is attributed to the fact that he missed
his three children very much, especially his eldest daughter, Bela. This gave him the
framework for the much renowned short story, ‘Kabuliwallah,’ filmed both in Bengali and
Hindi subsequently. Little Mini was created in the image of Bela. The Kabuliwallah is the
father who must miss his daughter desperately in a foreign land, and seeks to sublimate his
feelings in his interaction with Mini. Similarly, Mini’s father also understands the
Kabuliwallah’s surprise and grief when he realized that his daughter too must have grown
up in their faraway mountainous home and is now ready for marriage. The poignancy of the
conclusion is difficult to surpass as the narrator gives the other man, just out of prison, a
currency note that will help him return to his home, although it means curtailing items of
entertainment for Mini’s wedding.
The Film: Kabuliwallah (in Hindi)

http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/may/30dinesh.htm
Early Works
This story and many others such as “Dena Paona”, “Postmaster” and “Monihara” appear in a
collection of short stories called “Galpaguchha.” When Tagore began to look after the family
estates in Silaidaha, he was there all by himself. Thus he immersed himself in his duties as
a zamindar and looked after the needs of his tenants to the best of his ability. He was often
with them, listening to their troubles, moved by their pitiful condition. It was during this
phase that he wrote his first educational treatise, Shikshar Her Pher (1892).
Silaidaha and Santiniketan
Tagore's Santiniketan
http://www.journeymart.com/Dexplorer/AsiaIS/India/WestBengal/Shantiniketan/images/sa
ntiniketan.jpg
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The early ‘90s was also the time when his most fruitful career in writing was beginning. This
in fact has been called the Rabindrayuga of Bangla Literature, so golden was this period. His
major volumes of poetry were published in this period—Manasi (1890), dance-drama
Chitrangada (1892), Sonar Tori (1894), Chaitali (1896) Katha (1900) Kheya (1906) and
then Gitanjali in 1910. It is to be noted that the poems of Kheya are very dark and
pessimistic in nature, and written on the reverse side of the Swadeshi songs.” Chitrangada
holds a very significant place in Tagore’s works because of the emphasis on women’s issues
in the performing arts [see section on dance drama].
He also wrote his first major novels in this period—Chokher Bali (1903), Naukadubi (1906)
and Gora (circa 1909). His autobiographical pieces were collected in Jeevansmriti (1912)
and he became editor of the journal Bangadarshan at this time. His wife with their five
children came to join him in Selaidaha and he penned Katha o Kahani using many episodes
of valour from Indian history, especially Rajput and Sikh history as his subject.
On 22nd December, 7th Poush, 1901, Tagore founded a school in Santiniketan, Bolpur and
called it the Brahmacharya Ashram. It was founded on an allowance of Rs. 200/- received
from the Maharshi’s zamindari and later, Tagore pawned his wife’s ornaments and borrowed
from friends to nourish it.
Tagore lost his 13 year old daughter Rani in 1903, but he continued to write. A collection of
delightful poems for children like “Bir-purush” were collected in Shishu (The Crescent
Moon).
[http://www.picsearch.com/info.cgi?q=Rabindranath%20Tagore&id=
tu8y85CwHzhrSt42a96_K8WzHImXRTEAYCUW6fbDiXE
&start=75&opt=%26cols%3D3%26thumbs%3D18]
He also wrote articles for Bangadarshan simultaneously. When Lord Curzon proposed the
Partition of Bengal in 1905, Tagore protested vehemently and told the Bengalis, both Hindus
and Muslims, to celebrate 16th October as Raksha Bandhan Day by tying rakhis on each
others’ wrists.
The Swadeshi Movement started as a reaction to the 1905 Partition of Bengal, and artists,
poets and dramatists from all quarters came under the leadership of Tagore. The Anti-
Partition Movement also gave rise to terrorist activities in Bengal and Maharashtra, and the
Congress Party was divided between the extremists and moderates which led to the rift in
the Surat Congress. Tagore was so deeply shocked by the violence and riots that followed in
1907 that he decided to move away from active political participation in the militant uprising
over the partition of Bengal. Nonetheless, he remained intellectually involved with every
aspect of India’s struggle for freedom until his death.
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Rabindranath Tagore, Hampstead, London, 1912
http://www.poetseers.org/nobel_prize_for_literature/tagore/
When Tagore fell ill in 1912 and went to England for treatment, W. B. Yeats and several
other English poets came to visit him. They read some of his poems in translation, and
these were compiled into the Gitanjali which received the Nobel Prize the following year.
[http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/gitanjali.html] The Nobel Prize was announced on the
13th of November, 1912 when Tagore had returned to India and was traveling with Dinu
Thakur. The news reached him by telegram a couple of days later.
Tagore - Noble Prize Recipient for Literature
Tagore also travelled to America after England, and lectured on Religion, Culture and Race
Relations, mostly translated from his Bengali writings. When he returned to India, Calcutta
University conferred upon him an honorary doctorate. The Nobel Prize money was spent on
establishing a school in Patisar. He had established a co-operative bank there in 1905 with a
deposit of Rs. 108000. The prize money was Rs. 108000. The interest was meant to run
the school in Sriniketan and provide for Viswa Bharati. This idealism of Tagore is
represented to some extent through Nikhil in The Home and the World.
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Viswa Bharati
http://www.sasnet.lu.se/bilder/visva.jpg
Later Works
Tagore published Ghare Baire as a book in 1916 although it had been serialized in Sabuj
Patra (Green Leaves) in 1915-16. 1916 also marks the publication of Chaturanga and
Phalguni. Sisir Kumar Ghosh describes the latter as a charade and remarks that “Tagore
liked it so much that he appeared in a dual role, that of the Poet and the Baul, or wandering
minstrel.” Tagore published Balaka, Puravi and Mahua in fairly quick succession. He wrote
six plays of which Muktadhara and Chirakumar Sabha are still performed frequently.
C.F. Andrews, a teacher of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi visited Santiniketan and was
mesmerised by Tagore’s work. He introduced Gandhi to this literary personage on 6 March,
1915. Tagore gave to Gandhi the name ‘Mahatma’ or ‘the great soul.’ Gandhi’s profound
respect for Tagore, despite all differences, caused him to refer to the poet as ‘the great
sentinel.’
In 1918, the foundation stone was laid for the great university of Vishwa Bharati that would
welcome students from all castes, religions, nations, languages. Various departments were
set up to accommodate these students and classes were designed to be held outdoors,
under the trees, in the idyllic surroundings of the sand dunes next to the village of Bolpur.
On December 23, 1921, Tagore formally dedicated this university to the people of India.
The year 1919 saw the fearsome massacre at the Jalianwala Bagh, carried out against
innocent people of Punjab who had gathered for a peaceful meeting. No one was
spared…man, woman or child. The fatal orders given by General Dyer led to his court
martial in England later. Tagore renounced the knighthood that had been bestowed upon
him in a letter to the Viceroy of India.
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The Last Phase
Tagore in the last year of his life

http://www.geocities.com/guruforum/gitanjali.htm
Between 1932 and 1941, Tagore wrote Punascha and prose poems collected in the volumes
entitled Shesh Saptak and Shyamali. His last three novels were Dui Bon, Malancha, and
Char Adhyaya. The last dealt with the complications of love and politics, and had women
protagonists at their centre. A volume of poems called Purabi was dedicated to Victoria
Ocampo who was clearly in love with him, and he refers to her again in a poem of Shesh
Lekha published in 1940. Some of his essays were published posthumously in Shesh Lekha.
In 1935, Tagore headed a troupe of traveling dancers to perform Chitrangada, to raise

money for Santiniketan. Some claim that Gandhi was so upset by this event that he called
upon the industrialist, Mr. G.D. Birla, in Delhi to contribute the money and prevent Tagore
from taking such undue stress. He himself went to Santinketan to deliver the cheque.
(Gandhi also raised Rs 500,000 for Vishwa Bharati in 1942).
From 1937 onwards, Tagore’s health started failing. He fell dangerously ill in Kalimpong in
September 1940 and was brought to Calcutta in a state of unconsciousness. In May, the
following year, Tagore’s 80th birthday was celebrated by his students, friends and followers
at the Ashram. That same year, on August 7th or 22nd Shravan, Tagore breathed his last.
The day was Rakhi Poornima that year.
Tagore with his students in Santiniketan, 1940

http://www.kolkataweb.com/picture/calcutta/Rabindranath.jpg
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The Swadeshi Movement

The Beginning
The Patriotic Songs and the Swadeshi Movement
[This section is based on a script written by late Dr. R.K. Dasgupta of the National Library
Calcutta and performed in New Delhi by the students of Rabigeetika under the guidance of
Tagore scholar and Mastermoshai, Shri Sudhir Chanda/ All references and quotations, in its
present form (unless otherwise stated) have been taken from this script.]
Tagore’s involvement with the Swadeshi movement started when he was in his early
teens. He composed his first patriotic poem for the Hindu Mela in 1875. His subject was the
passing of the glory of India yoked by foreign rule. His sorrow was echoed in the following
year when he wrote a song for a secret political society founded by his elder brother
Jyotirindranath and Rajnarayan Bose—the Sanjivani Sabha. The song was a call to string
together the minds of our innumerable people, to submerge ourselves in our life-work for
the mother-country…
Ek shutrey bandhiyachhi shahasroti mon,
Ek kaarjey shonpiyachhi shahasro jeebon—
Bande Mataram, Bande Mataram.
[A thousand minds are strung on a single thread
A thousand lives have been dedicated to a single task,
Hail to thee Mother]
At the 12th annual session of the Indian National Congress, the members invited Tagore to
sing Vandemataram which had been written by Bankimchandra. Tagore composed the music
and it was met with great acclaim. He also invited some senior members of the Congress to
his house in Jorasankho and presented to them his beautiful song: “Oyi
Bhubanomonomohini Ma.” [The mother who has enchanted the world].
At the turn of the century, Balgangadhar Tilak was imprisoned and Tagore made a
vociferous protest against the Sedition Act brought forth by the British. At a public meeting
in the Town Hall of Calcutta he said, “When we express our grievance, we are guilty of
treason against the sovereign; but I say in suppressing that voice of protest, the ruling class
is guilty of treason against the people” (1899). He wrote several essays at this time which
also contained his criticism of the British: in “Raja O Praja” he condemned Rudyard Kipling
for his imperial arrogance, and in “Apamaner Pratikaar,” he put down the Anglo-Indian
Press for their opposition to Indian members participating in the jury. Then in an article
entitled “ Mukherji versus Banerji,” he criticized zamindars for their anti-Congress
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sentiments. He was not just calling for action from the leaders, but also encouraging the
youth to step forward and fight for liberty through entire submission of the self for the
national cause:
Hey kishore, tooley lawo tomraa udaar joy bheri,
Karoho aaobhaan.
Aamra daarhabo uthi, aamra chhutiyaa baahiribo,
Orpibo poraan.
[O young people, lift up the generous boat of joy,
Call out in welcome,
We shall rise, we shall run outside,
We shall dedicate our hearts]
Nehru always affirmed that Tagore’s nationalism was branded by a sense of

internationalism. This is marked in the sonnets Tagore wrote at the turn of the century
when he felt that many Western nations displayed a sense of greed in their imperial policies.
Some examples are the British atrocities during the Boer War in South Africa, the German
occupation of Kiaochow in China, the Russian domination in Port Arthur, The American
policy of territorial expansion for commercial gains into China through the Philippines, and
the inhuman practices of the Western powers under the leadership of the British in the
Boxer Rising in Peking. The sonnets of Tagore were published in Naivedya (1901) and they
clearly focused on the collective imperial violence upon the Oriental world:
Shataabdir surjo aaji rokto-megh maakha osto gelo:
Hinshaar utshobey aaji bajey
Ostrey ostrey moroner unmaad ragini bhoyonkori…
Tagore called this poem “The Sunset of the Century” and translated it into English to include
in his work, “Nationalism.” Thus he wrote, “The last sun of the century sets amid the blood-
red clouds of the West and the whirlwind of hatred/ The naked passion of the self-love of
Nations, in its drunken delirium of greed is dancing to the clash of steel and the howling
verses of vengeance.”
The Partition of Bengal: Bango-bhango Aandolon, 1905
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The British Empire in 1905 (red)

http://www.mariofaraone.org/S_AU/impetimeline.html
When the proposal for the Partition of Bengal was announced in the Calcutta Gazette on 3rd
December, 1903 Tagore made a valiant effort to appeal to his countrymen to come together
and withstand this evil: “The attempt at separation can only strengthen our unity. In the
past, we were united unconsciously; today we will be united by a conscious will.” He
addressed the British rulers with the words: “We do not want favours, for we will gain in
strength through your hostility.” On 22nd July the following year, he gave an important
public address in Calcutta on “Swadeshi Samaj” where he spoke for rural upliftment through
a cooperative system and social re-organisation to challenge the British policies. It was
around this time that he paid tribute to a great Maratha leader of Medieval India, Shivaji, in
a poem of the same name. The words of the poem speak metaphorically of the unity of the
Indian people: “Marathir shathey aaji hey Bangaali, ek konthey bolo/ ‘joyotu Shibaji.”
On 7th August, at a meeting held at the Town Hall, Indians adopted the resolution to
boycott British goods, and on the 25th Tagore gave a speech at the same venue asking the
people to defeat the British purposes of Partition by remaining united at all costs. He called
for the formation of a Council for administrative affairs to be headed by a Hindu and a
Muslim, jointly.
[Today, this event is called the first Partition of Bengal to distinguish it from the Partition of
India in 1947 when East Bengal became East Pakistan; and subsequently the War with
Pakistan in 1971 when an independent nation, Bangladesh was formed. They too adopted a
song written by Tagore for their national anthem: Aamar shonaar Baangla, aami tomaye
bhaalobaashi. [My beautiful motherland, o how much I love you.]
However, on 16th October 1905, the Partition of Bengal was officially announced by Lord
Curzon and large numbers of people gathered in central Calcutta to lay the foundation of
the Federation Hall, which became a symbol of unity for the people of Bengal. A procession
followed, led by Tagore and one of the songs sung stated that despite the strong fetters
imposed by the ruling class, the people had the faith they could break such bondage. The
blood-red eye of the tyrant Government would infuse new spirit into the people of India:
Oder bandhon jotoi shakto hobey totoi bandhon tutbey
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Moder totoi bandhon tutbey;
Oder aankhi jotoi rakto hobey moder aankhi phutbey
Totoi moder aankhi phutbey.
[However strong are their shackles, the chains are bound to break,
Our chains are bound to break;
However cruel are their red eyes, the more our eyes will open,
The more our eyes will open.]
In the other famous song (which Sandip sings in the movie version of Ghare Baire), Tagore
questioned the vanity of the ruling class who thought they could divide an integrated
people. He further warned that even the weak have their own place and power in the divine
order, and can vanquish those who sin against them:
Bidhir bandhon kaatbey tumi, emon shaktimaan
Tumi ki emni shaktimaan.
Aamader bhangagorha tomaar haatey emon abhimaan
Tomaader emni abhimaan.
[Are you that powerful to overthrow the limits set by the Almighty
Are you really so powerful,
Breaking or binding us is in your hands you think
Is that really what you believe]
When the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) visited India, Tagore wrote a critical article
called “Loyalty” where he demonstrated that the British expected loyalty when they had
only suspicion and imprisonment for their subjects. Then when Kshudiram Bose and Prafulla
Chaki shot an Englishman and his daughter (and were hanged for their crimes), Tagore said
this could not be an answer to our political tumult. He stressed the fact that the Indian
National Movement must have its own unique characteristics, not sustained by violence and
not soiled by the adventurism and ambition of Western politics. He again called for a united
India and composed the song “Bharattirtha” which is included in the Bangla Gitanjali: “Hey
mor chitto, poornotirthey jaagorey dheerey, / Ei Bharoter mohaamanober shagoroteerey.”
[O my soul awake slowly for the spiritual journey/ reaching for the horizon formed by the
wonderful people of Bharat].
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In fact, in this song and others written during this period, he called people of all caste, creed
and religion to join together. He felt that India had a historic and spiritual mission to fulfill
which could only be achieved through the adoption of correct moral and human values. Thus
a song with this theme became our national anthem and it describes more than just our
geographical heritage:
Ahoroho tobo aobhaano prochaarito, shuni tobo udaaro baani,
Hindu Boudhho Shikh Jaino Paaroshik Mussalman Khrishtaani;
Purabo pashchimo aashey, tobo shinghashono paashey,
Premohaar hoyo gaatha.
[We spread your message everyday, and listen to your uplifting words,
Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains Parsees, Muslims and Christians;
East and West they meet, beside your throne.
A garland of love is thus strung.]
After the 1905 Partition
Although Tagore gave up active politics after the riots of 1908, he protested against the
internment of Mrs. Annie Besant on the charge of treason in June 1915. The British refused
to let him use the Town Hall for yet another public address, so he repaired to the Alfred
Theatre where he began… “After one hundred and fifty years of British rule, we have just
been told that the people of Bengal have not even the right to cast a sign of pain at the
misdeeds of the Government of Madras.” He protested against the thought that the British
would decide when the country was fit for freedom. He said, “no country would be free
today if that were true… we demand self-Government.”
At the 33rd session of the Congress under the presidentship of Mrs. Annie Besant, Tagore
recited his English poem “India’s Prayer”:
Our voyage is begun Captain, we bow to Thee,

The storm howls and the waves are wicked and wild, but we sail on/
The menace of danger waits in the way to yield to thee its offerings of pain
And a voice in the heart of the tempest cries, ‘Come to conquer fear.’
On 23rd March, 1919, the infamous Rowlatt Bill was framed upon the recommendations
made by the Sedition Committee. When it became an Act, Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for
passive resistance which Tagore felt would degenerate into violence. In an open letter to
Gandhi, the poet wrote,” I know your teaching is to fight against evil. But such a fight is for
heroes and not for men led by impulse of the moment.”
15
On 13th April, 1919 the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre occurred, but the news took a long time
to reach the poet in Santiniketan. He immediately left for Calcutta and composed a letter to
the Viceroy of India, Lord Chelmsford, renouncing his knighthood. He emphasized the
helplessness of the subjects of the Crown and said:
The disproportionate severity of the punishment inflicted upon the unfortunate people and
the methods of carrying them out are without parallel in the history of civilized
Governments…the very least I can do for my country is to take all consequences upon
myself in giving voice to the protest of the millions of my countrymen surprised into a dumb
anguish of terror. The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in
their incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part wish to stand, shorn of all special
distinction by the side of my countrymen. And these are the reasons which compel me to
ask Your Excellency to relieve me of my title of Knighthood.
The Non-cooperation Movement started in September 1921, and although Tagore had the
profoundest respect for Gandhi, he did not accept this method as a path to freedom. He
admitted that one must learn about truth and love from the Mahatma, but for Swaraj to
come, “the economist must think, the mechanic must labour, the educationist and
statesman must teach and contrive…” He affirmed that the country’s “mind” must not be
made “timid or inactive by compulsion open or secret.” Then on 4th February, 1922 the
people of Chauri Chaura attacked a police-station and killed twenty two policemen. Not only
did Gandhi immediately call off the Movement but also admitted that India did not yet have
a “non-violent and truthful atmosphere which alone [can] justify mass disobedience.”
Gandhi and Tagore

http://quotationsbook.com/assets/shared/img/2723/673px-Tagore_Gandhi.jpg
16
The Last Years

The Indian National Congress was declared illegal in June 1930. Tagore who was in England
at the time wrote to the Spectator that the British would make a grave mistake if they did
not heed Gandhi’s leadership. When two political prisoners were shot in Hijli Jail, a protest
meeting was held at the Ochterlony Monument in Calcutta. It was Gandhi’s support which
made the poet raise his voice again to condemn the British for such a shameful and
cowardly act. He told his students at Santiniketan on the occasion of Gandhi’s 65th birthday
that “It is this figure of Gandhi, the Sadhaka, effulgent with this spirit, which stands on the
pedestal of eternity.”
When the Anglo-Indian Press wrote that the two soldiers who had killed the two prisoners in
Hijli Jail should be forgiven, Tagore thought it would be grave injustice on the part of the
ruling class to do so. He wrote a poem “Proshno” /”Question” that clearly enunciates his
thoughts:
Jahara tomaar bishaaichhey baayu, nibhaichhey tobo aalo,
Tumi ki taader kkhoma koriyaachho,
Tumi ki beshechho bhaalo?
[Those who have poisoned your air, those who have extinguished your light,
Can it be that you have forgiven them,
Can it be that you love them?]”
Although there were many occasions when Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore
disagreed with each other, they had a deep regard and respect for each other. When Gandhi
was fasting in Yerveda Jail, Tagore went to Puna and was present when the former broke
his fast on 26th September 1932. The latter sang a beautiful song from the Gitanjali to
commemorate the occasion: “Jeebono jakhono shukaye jaye karunadharaye esho.” [When
life is ebbing come to me in all your mercy.] That year, Tagore wrote a book called
Mahatmaji and Depressed Humanity.
17
Gandhi visits Tagore in Santiniketan, 1940

http://imcradiodotnet.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/gandhi-tagore.jpg
In 1936, Tagore made his last public address on political affairs, primarily on behalf of
Jawaharlal Nehru who was in prison after Eleanor Rathbone had condemned the Indians for
their non-cooperation in British wars. 23,000 satyagrahis had been arrested and Subhas
Chandra Bose had escaped from India on 26th January that year. Tagore believed that
Nehru had an “undoubted right to the throne of India” and he felt that “if that noble
freedom fighter’s battle had not been gagged behind prison bars by Miss Rathbone’s
countrymen, he would have made a fitting and spirited reply to her gratuitous sermon.” He
vehemently protested that “When scores of Indian lives are lost, our property looted, our
women dishonoured, the mighty British arms stir in no action, or only the British voice is
raised from overseas to chide us for our unfitness to put our house in order.”
At the end of his life Tagore wrote that the “turning of the wheel” will make the British
eventually surrender their “Indian Empire.” But the significant question would be what is left
in the wake of imperial rule. Yet he felt it is wrong to lose faith in humanity and claimed that
the “saviour is coming, that he will be born in the poverty-shamed hovel which is India.”
And the coming of the new human being heralding an international society is voiced in his
song:
“Oi mohamaanob aashey/ Dikey dikey romancho laagey/ martodhulir ghashey ghaashey.”
[The new man is on his on his way./ Enlightenment fills the air./ Touching this earth, and
the grass that grows.]
Tagore's songs and dances at Jorasankho, calcutta

http://frontpage.montclair.edu/mgregory/images%20&%20photos/DanceGWFlag.jpg
18
Music from Bengal

In his ideal for Santiniketan as a place for true learning, Tagore assigned a very special
place to dance and music. He himself often danced with students, and even today the
students of Santiniketan are well versed in the dance-dramas composed by the poet and the
(approximately) 2200 songs that are collected in the Geetobitan. In the early times, he
actually attended the rehearsals of the dance dramas for he saw himself as a “messenger of
diversities….” Tagore expressed that his duties lay in unfolding the “diverse cadence of the
manifold that goes on playing, by becoming numerous, towards every direction, in tunes,
songs, dances, pictures, colours, appearance, in turmoils and trifles of happiness and
sorrow, in the conflicts between the good and the evil.” He wanted to accompany the boys
and girls as they rose at daybreak to discover the joys of nature and its beauty in the
ashram-world around them.
Although dancing was not considered an honourable past-time especially for the girls hailing
from elite families, primarily because dance in Bengal had been restricted to the
professional baijees and khemta-dancers, or those who danced in the jatras and theatres.
Urban families did not think of participating in dance as a part of entertainment, and so folk
dances existed only in rural Bengal or among the tribals like the santhals. In fact, sheer
neglect and lack of support of the rural dances has caused many of them to disappear. [The
Bengalis certainly do not have a dance form like the bhangra of the Punjabis, or the garba
of the Gujrathis which the entire community can perform to important occasions].
Tagore who had traveled widely in the countries of Europe and the Far-East felt that dance
was completely educative. He thought it necessary to merge the physical movements of the
body with the grace that lay in nature and thus form the composite beauty of thought.
Besides, he had listened to rich classical music in his childhood home at Jorasankho.
Sourindramohan Tagore brought together his own band of musicians with those of the
captive Wajid Ali Shah, Nawab of Oudh who lived in Metiabruz, Calcutta. Of the eminent
singers who performed at the home of the Tagores were Ramshankar Bhattacharya,
Anantalal Bandopadhyay, Jadubhatta (Radhikaprasad Goswami of Bishnupur) and Bishnu
Chakraborty from Krishnanagar. The last was a singer at the Adi Brahmo Samaj and the
music teacher in the Tagore household.
At first the Bengali singers taught pure classical ragas and raginis or the ostadi music. But
soon they began to experiment and a new wave of songs from a singer called Ramnidhi
Gupta took Calcutta by storm. These were popularly called Nidhubabu’s tappa. Santidev
Ghosh writes that Gurudev/Tagore who had studied and listened to various kinds of music
felt that “there are expressions of ideas in our music, one is in the form of pure music, and
the other in the form of a mixture of poetry.” In Bengal music cannot exist on its own, it
must come together with words. Thus singers of the 19th century, including Tagore himself
were able to mix words easily and beautifully into the classical raginis, and keep them
resounding with tal and laya [beat and rhythm]. Tagore was weaned on the Bengali tappa,
the jatra songs made famous by Gopal Ure and the Panchali songs of Dashuray. He listened
to Ostadi or Hindustani classical music, and his brother, Jyotirindranath would even play
these raga-raginis on the piano. Bishnu Chakraborty was Rabindranath’s first music teacher
and he taught him to sing a Bengali nursery rhyme set to the tune of a ragini. When Tagore
began composing his songs, he wrote using the simplicity of the Bengali language, and gave
the music himself to most of them. It is very important to sing these perfectly, and most
Bengalis today are able to sing the more popular ones as part of their proud inheritance.
19
If you wish to hear a sampling of Tagore's songs, click on the section "Tagore's Songs."
Influence of Foreign Music and Tagore's Dance Drama
One of the Western composers Tagore heard early in his life was Chopin. He was only
seventeen when he went to England for the first time and he was attracted to compositions
being played on the piano. It was at this age that he began to learn Western songs and the
first famous artiste whose concert he attended was Madam Nillson. He records in his
Jeevansmriti (Autobiography) that while in Brighton, he went to hear a singer of repute who
could have been either Madam Nillson again or Madam Albani. The poet claims, “I have
never heard such wonderful power of the voice.” He also recollects that when he was invited
to the home of Dr. M?? and asked to sing, he sang two Bengali songs as well as “Premer
katha aar bolona” [Don’t speak about romantic love anymore].
Indira Devi, the poet’s niece, also recollects that her siblings with their mother arrived in
England first, and “later on, in 1878, Rabikaka and father came.” She remembers that her
uncle had a powerful, tenor voice and he sang songs that were popular at that time—“Won’t
you tell me Molly, darling” and “Darling, you are growing old.”
Thus Tagore was immensely influenced by Western music when he returned to India in
1880, and again encouraged by his brother Jyotirindranath, he wrote his first dance-drama
Valmiki Pratibha.
School children perform in Valmiki Pratibha

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2008/10/25/35944_1.jpg
It contains really an admixture of Indian and Western tunes, but the latter are heard in the
song that the dacoits sing when they are drunk, and again there is a lilting Irish melody
built into the song of the goddess of the forest, vanadevi. The latter’s song, “Mari o kaahar
bachha” [O whose darling is she] was actually composed for the second performance of the
dance drama, in 1915. Tagore claims that he was experimenting with music and Valmiki
Pratibha is not the same as what is called opera in the European language; it is a playlet in
20
music…. The subject matter is only acted in tunes, it has very little beauty of music
separately.” Two months after this performance, Tagore delivered a lecture at the Bethune
Society on “Sangeet O Bhaav” and it was published in the Bharati in May 1881.
In this lecture Tagore pointed out several facts about Indian music. He said that although
every ragini can be adapted to expressing sorrow, we can seldom express boisterous
thoughts or hilarious laughter in our music. Again, the Som or the opening first beat of any
taal keeps us returning to its rigid meter whereas sometimes, especially in a dance drama,
it is necessary to suspend all beats for the effect or excitement of the moment. Finally he
asserted that “Ordinary poetry is meant for reading, the poetry of music is meant for
hearing… The poetry of songs cannot be read; it can only be heard.” Several essays
containing Tagore’s thoughts on music were published in the Bharati in the next few
months. Soon after, the poet wrote another dance drama called Kal Mrigaya trans??which
was performed on 23rd December, 1882. This contained six songs composed with Western
tunes such as “Phooley Phooley dholey dholey” (Drowsing on every flower)
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcUHbTBElO0] and “Shakoli Phuralo” [Everything is
over]. These came to be known as the break-away songs, like another we sing very often—
“Puraano shei diner katha” [Memories of times past] composed to the tune of “Auld lang
syne.” Tagore admits in his Autobiography that he mixed many parts of the first dance
drama into the second for subsequent performances. He also says that he did not compose
any other with quite as much enthusiasm as these two musicals.
His third piece was Mayar Khela, performed in December 1888 in Bethune College before
an entirely feminine audience. Here he felt that the music and not the drama should be
‘fundamental.’ He affirmed that “It does not depend on the current of incidents; its main
component is the very emotion of the heart. In fact, when I wrote Mayar Khela, the whole
mind was drenched with the flow of music.”
After his return from the second visit to England in 1893, Valmiki Pratibha was played
before the distinguished audience of Governor-General Lord Lansdowne and his wife, Lady
Eliot and others. Indira Devi in her book Rabindrasmriti (Reminiscences of Rabindranath)
gives a description of this grand performance at Jorasankho, with its cast. According to her,
Gaganendranath and Abanindranath Tagore played the role of dacoits, while Indira Devi was
Saraswati and Abhigna Devi was the young girl. Tagore once again played the lead role of
Valmiki.
Indira Devi also recounts that her Rabikaka composed Ben Jonson’s poem “Drink to me only
with thine eyes” in Bengali—Kotobaar bhebechhinu..” [How often have I thought]. He would
also sing the Roman Catholic hymn Ave Maria accompanied by violin and piano. He kept up
this practice of Western vocal music until he was 39 years old. Tagore himself makes a
comparison of Indian and Western music in “Bilaati Sangeet” [Foreign Music] in
Jeevansmriti where he says “The European music is, as it were, diversely associated with
the realistic life of man. … It seems to me, these songs are romantic; those are expressing
the diversities of human life by translation in the tune of a song. It is not proper that in our
music there is no such effort anywhere, but that effort has not become forceful and
successful.”
21
The poet’s niece and Biographer with her ‘Rabi-kaka’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indira-tagore.JPG
Sisir Kumar Das rues the fact that the success granted to Tagore in his day has now waned
considerably. Acknowledging the fact that the poet’s dance dramas are enchanting, Das
goes on to say, “…few would pause to ponder over their content; the woman’s predicament
with her body and physical charm; the ruthlessness of love and limitations of human
judgement or the triumph of man over temptation and evil as presented in Chitrangada,
Shyama and Chandalika respectively.” He points out that they are performed repeatedly
because Tagore for Bengalis is a point of “cultural pride or pretension, a piece of decoration
and for decoration.”
Yet these performances are invaluable today for the messages they contain. In the context
of women’s issues, Chitrangada shows Tagore as a feminist writer, long before his time,
long before such statements became the fashion. The story is a familiar one, taken from
The Mahabharata, during Arjuna’s singular vanavasa. He meets and dismisses the Princess
of Manipur because she is ugly, and dressed in the clothing of a boy. Yet when she returns,
transformed by magic, as a beautiful maiden, Arjuna falls in love with her. Soon the absent
Princess is hailed by her subjects who need her help to quell right word?? the dacoits who
have descended upon them—and Arjuna is also fired by a desire to see this extraordinary
woman. She is once again brought into his presence by her sakhis, shorn of her beautiful
garb. Her words at this moment capture a woman’s pride and desire in any generation, at
any point of time:
Aami Chitrangada, aami rajendranandini,
Nohi debi, nohi shamanyo naari.
Pooja kori morey raakhibey urdhey shey nohi nohi,
Hela kori morey rakhibey peechhey shey nohi nohi.
22
Jodi paarshey rakho shankatey shampadey,
Shammoti dao jodi kotheeno brotey, shahay hotey
Paabey tobey tumi chinitey morey.
[I am Chitrangada, daughter of a royal house,

Neither a goddess, nor any ordinary woman,
I am not to be worshipped and kept afar,
Nor will I be rejected and left behind,
If you can keep me by your side, safe from danger and value my presence,
Allow me to share your greatest trials, and be your helpmate,
Only then will you recognize who I am.]
(trans. by the authors)
Tagore had written upon the Buddhist theme in two very similar pieces—a poem, “Pujarini”
and a play Natir Puja, using the theme of martyrdom to represent the ills of irrational
religiosity. Then in the dance-drama Chandalika he gave the same theme a new
interpretation where he exposed the terrible caste-ism of Indian society where the chandals
or “untouchables” must keep away from regular society for even their shadow can be
polluting. The young girl in this musical however sees the Buddhist bhikshu and falls in love
with him and persuades her mother to bring him to her through the former’s powers of dark
magic. He does come to her bringing her benediction, averting a darker tragedy. It is in this
dance drama that Tagore writes the lyrics “Phool boley, dhanyo aami maatir porey” that
suggest that we are all like the flower that considers itself fulfilled for being born upon this
earth.
Tagore’s Last Hobby

In the last two decades of his life, Tagore began doodling and painting. He went to Paris
where some of his pictures were exhibited, and he found considerable acclaim among the
French. The Indian public was not so convinced about Tagore’s prowess as an artist. They
could not understand what kind of modernity this spelt and why any further experiments
could not have been carried out in the medium of poetry.
23
Tagore’s Last Hobby: Self-Portrait by Tagore

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dWDxttR8yTk/RZ5fJkUle5I/AAAAAAAAA1g/
I55hKUod2uw/s400/paint_rntagore_self.jpg
Tagore also exhibited in Berlin and from there he was invited to Oberammargau to see the
Passion Play. The martyrdom of Christ inspired him to write perhaps his only English poem,
“The Child.” The line he penned, “in his death the great victim lives in the lives of all us”
seems an ominous fore-runner of the death of the Mahatma, which fortunately, Tagore did
not live to see.
He also went to America once more where he exhibited his paintings in New York. And then
returned to India. His seventieth birthday was celebrated in Santiniketan where he made his
ultimate claim—“Aami kavi” (I am a poet).
[http://www.calcuttaweb.com/tagore/paintings.shtml]
Tagore’s Doodles: A Method to Erase Lines

http://www.calcuttaweb.com/picture/paintings/tagore_manuscript6_a.jpg
Political Background
The complexity, the multilayered dimensions of the novel The Home and the World led to a
divergence of critical opinions and an examination of the political and social bedrock on
which the novel rests is called for. Home and the World is set against the backdrop of the
tumultuous events following Lord Curzon’s disastrous measure - the Partition of Bengal in
1905 (map [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bengal_gazetteer_1907-9.jpg]). The people of
Bengal were outraged and the Nationalists were quick to level the charge of Divide-and-Rule
policy of the British.”
On 16 October 1905 when Partition was declared, people took to the streets in protest, and
24
Rabindranath Tagore spearheaded the agitation in Calcutta with an imaginative appeal of

raksha bandhan between Hindus and Muslims and arandhan by which hearths remained
unlit as a sign of mourning. Of lasting value are the soul stirring songs he composed during
this period, which have captured and made permanent a glorious era in Bengal’s history,
especially as these songs were sung during marches and meetings. Some of the songs are:
Jodi Tor Dak Shune Keyu Na Ashe (If there is no one to respond to your call) O Amar
Desher Mati (“O my country’s soil”) Amra Milechhi aj Mayer Dake (We have come together
in response to our Mother’s call). In the same spirit, Satyajit Ray’s Ghare Baire has Sandip
render Bidhir Bandhon Katbe Tumi (“Do you think you are so powerful that you can break
the bounds given by the almighty?”)
The protest against Partition soon swelled into a movement for “swaraj.” There was a
search for new techniques: boycott of British goods in favour of Indian made (Swadeshi)
goods, and boycott of official educational institutions and organisation of national schools.
Sumit Sarkar analyses the Swadeshi movement in terms of three broad trends one of which
is Constructive Swadeshi – the rejection of futile and self–demeaning ‘mendicant’ politics in
favour of self help through Swadeshi industries, national schools and attempts at village
improvement and organization.” Tagore’s call for ‘atmashakti’ had few takers – the youth of
Bengal were impatient and were drawn into political extremism. The Extremists took over
the reins, calling for a programme of organized and relentless boycott of British goods,
officialised education, justice and executive administration. The third movement was the
shift to revolutionary terrorism. This movement took the form of assassinations of
oppressive officials or traitors, Swadeshi dacoities to raise funds or conspiracies with
expectations of help from foreign enemies of Britain.
Tagore’s Novels
25
Gurudev Rabindranath
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1058/544322325_f004e56c6d.jpg
Tagore in three novels written over a span of three decades was to express his sense of
disillusionment with the path the Swadeshi movement had taken, and its growing
identification with religious revivalism. Gora (1909) fights Hindu revivalism while Ghare
Baire (1916) and Char Adhyay (1934) express Tagore’s dismay and even revulsion at the
turn events had taken, culminating in the communal riots which convulsed Bengal in 1907.
Ashis Nandy in his analysis of these three novels points out that what gives the three novels
their complexity - and their politics of self in depth – is the author’s plural concept of
authority and dissent.” The existing structure of authority against which rebellion begins, is
weak, compromising, doomed to defeat. Each major contradiction in the novels involves the
entry of western ideas of the nation state, history and progress, and these ideas set the
terms of political discourse even among Indians. This success of colonialism is matched by
the ambitions of a nationalism which blindly appropriates the colonial ideas and sacrifices
Indians at the altar of a brand new, imported, progressivist history of the Indian nation
state in the making.
As early as 1901, in a letter to one of the teachers of the school in Shantiniketan

[http://www.kamat.org/picture.asp?Name=2942.jpg] Tagore described political nationalism
as a bhougalik apadebata or a territorial demon, and Santiniketan as a ‘temple’ dedicated to
get rid of that demon.”
Tagore in his essays on Nationalism asserts that nationalism is a western construct. In a

lecture delivered in Japan in 1916 he says: “The political civilization which has sprung up
from the soil of Europe and is overrunning the whole world, like some prolific weed, is based
upon exclusiveness…It is carnivorous and cannibalistic in its tendencies, it feeds upon the
resources of other peoples and tries to swallow their whole future.” In America in 1917
while speaking about nationalism in India, Tagore warns against the dangers it poses:
“India has never had a real sense of nationalism…it is my conviction that my countrymen
will truly gain their India by fighting against the education which teaches them that a
country is greater than the ideals of humanity….Nationalism is a great menace.”
It is interesting to look at Amartya Sen’s comments on Tagore’s views on nationalism and

communal sectarianism in “Tagore and His India” (2001). “Rabindranath rebelled against
the strongly nationalist form that the independence movement often took, and this made
him refrain from taking a particularly active part in contemporary politics…Rabindranath
would be shocked by the growth of cultural separatism in India, as elsewhere. The
‘openness’ that he valued so much is certainly under great strain right now – in many
countries.” Edward Thompson’s son, the radical and renowned historian E.P. Thompson too
sees Tagore’s views on Nationalism as having profound contemporary significance:
“Tagore’s Nationalism is a prescient, even prophetic work whose foresight has been
confirmed by sufficient evidence – two world wars, the nuclear arms race, environmental
disasters, technologies too clever to be controlled.”
In Home and the World Nikhil and Sandip represent the two aspects of the Swadeshi
Movement: Constructive and Extremist and Bimala symbolizes Bengal – torn between the
26
two.
Nikhil’s is the dull “milk and water Swadeshi” (p.95).” that did not hold any appeal – either
for Bimala or for the people on his estates. His flamboyant gesture of setting up a machine
for extracting date juice extracts more money than juice and the bank offering high rates of
interest is swamped!
Then comes the “new era of Swadeshi . . . like a flood, breaking down the dykes and
sweeping all prudence and fear before it” (p. 26). Sandip storms in, riding the wave,
bringing havoc and destruction in both Home and the World. Sandip’s brand of nationalism
is the “western military style” (p. 81) expressing a philosophy that is materialistic and
amoral.” His is the cult of force “that is really mine which I can snatch away” (p.45). Sandip
the nationalist leader is exposed as using the logic of the colonizer, and his rapacious
attitude extends to his masterful subjection of women “I have found that my way always
wins over the hearts of women…women find in my features … a masterful passion…a full-
blooded passion” (p. 47-48). Sandip’s populist rhetoric, operating through binary
stereotypes is exposed as divisive – both in terms of class and religious belief. What chance
does Bimala have against the rhetoric and passion of a Sandip? Bimala’s capitulation mirrors
perhaps the capitulation of Bengal – swept away by the glamour and promise of a new
Bengal. Nikhil’s possible death at the end of the novel is symbolic of Bengal’s rejection of
Tagore’s message of ‘atmashakti’ and Constructive Swadeshi.
Review of The Home and The World

Home and the World was the first novel of Rabindranath Tagore to appear in English and by
1919 (when the novel was published) Tagore had become a world figure with a large and
discerning readership in the West. But the novel was received unfavourably. E.M. Forster
[http://emforster.de/
hypertext/template.php3?t=pictures] described it as “a boarding house flirtation.” while
George Lukacs [http://www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/] in a scathing attack accused
Tagore of putting himself at the intellectual service of the British police; Sandip is described
as “a contemptible caricature of Gandhi.” (Gandhi of course was not to play a prominent
role in the Indian political arena until several years later.) These reviews showed a
misunderstanding of the literary traditions out of which the novel grew and the socio-
political issues it dealt with.
The Bengali version of the novel Ghare Baire published in 1916 (appearing serially from
1915 in Sabuj Patra an avant garde journal) had fared even worse at the hands of critics at
home, because Tagore had dared to show the Swadeshi Movement in a negative light and
had portrayed sympathetically the transgression of Bimala, a Hindu wife. Tagore is
denounced for his “ugly attack on the revolutionaries which included showing the hero as
trying to seduce another man’s wife.”
Tagore’s daring representation of Bimala was described by a critic as a ‘veritable bomb’ that
affronted the genteel society of early twentieth century Bengal.” It may be noted that
Tagore had published several short stories in Sabuj Patra depicting the problems women
faced in tradition bound Hindu homes.
27
A shot from Satyajit Ray’s film Charulata

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_puT3hCataJ8/SSAjn0Do5bI/AAAAAAAAAoY/
VoloJTJdU1I/s320/Charulata1.jpg
In Streer Patra (Wife’s Letter) Mrinal walks out on her husband and in the novella Nastanir
(Broken Nest) Charulata’s infatuation with Amal her husband’s cousin is again portrayed
sympathetically. Satyajit Ray’s film Charulata is based on Nastanir.
[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2uYkLeK6Bcc/SeqqFa5s4xI/AAAAAAAAABw/2LYGVkfH67g/s160
0-h/sjff_01_img0101.jpg]. So it was no surprise that Tagore was denounced as anti-
tradition and anti-Hindu: “From the day Sabuj Patra has sprouted, Rabindranath, the
incarnation of genius, is writing long and short stories in the periodical. The objective of
most of the stories is to undermine or ridicule Hindu society, Hindu beliefs, Hindu scriptures,
Hindu customs and the eternal and revered ideals of Hindus.” Ghare Baire served to add
fuel to the fire already raging and the storm of protests was to continue for a few years. It
is no wonder then that Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Tagore’s biographer wrote “Of all the
works of Rabindranath, Ghare Baire has probably provoked the largest number of critics,
literary or otherwise.”
The Social Bedrock in The Home and the World
The novel portrays rural Bengal in the first decade of the 20th century. At the apex of the
social structure is the zamindar, and Satyajit Ray’s film on the novel captures vividly the
interiors – period furniture richly upholstered, elegant tea sets, the mystique of Bimala’s
dressing table. In the same way as the zamindar’s home is a sequestered domain, there is
the andarmahal within it where the women lead a vibrant if cloistered existence, sheltered
from the ‘real’world of sunlight and activity. The central act of the novel is the emergence of
Bimala into the ‘bahir’. One of the most symbolic scenes in Satyajit Ray’s film Ghare Baire is
the walk husband and wife take—down the long verandah of their stately home—as Bimala
literally emerges from the ‘ghar’ to meet her husband’s friend in the ‘outside’ sitting room,
28
traditionally the men’s domain. The shawl that Nikhil is wearing is richly embroidered and
draped to fit his role as zamindar or land-owner. It compliments the figure of Bimala in her
sari wrapped in Bengali style, with jewellery adorning her richly. Yet she has a slightly
tremulous, uncertain look upon her face. Nikhil in the novel is seen to be more Spartan in
his ways, wedded to the use of ‘swadeshi’ articles, advocating the use of a brass vase
instead of the crystal one favoured by Bimala.
What we have is a binary structure of unscrupulous politician/landlord and the paternalist

landlord. Nikhil is the benevolent zamindar looking after the interest of his tenants, refusing
the Swadeshi demand of boycott of foreign goods, which are more accessible for the poor as
they are cheaper. But there are other zamindars – Harish Kundu and the Chakravertis –who
predictably support Sandip’s nefarious activities, taxing their peasantry, imposing penalties
on swadeshi ‘defaulters’ like poor Panchu whose bale of cloth is consigned to the swadeshi
flames. We learn from Nikhil that Sandip “had joined forces with Harish Kundu, and there
was a grand celebration of the demon-destroying Goddess”(p.160). Harish Kundu we are
told, was extorting the expenses from his tenantry. It is precisely this policy of alienating
the Muslims that would erupt in riots at the end of the novel in which Amulya is killed and
Nikhil grievously injured. Sumit Sarkar points out that the apocalyptic end parallels similar
incidents in East Bengal in 1907 where the targets were Hindu zamindars some of whom
had levied ishwar britti.” for worship of Hindu Goddesses.” In “Mirjan from theMargins”
Saswati Sengupta (et al) questions the novel’s end by which the Muslims have turned from
being victims to rioters and marauders. “Why does the novel end by consolidating the
stereotype of the violent and sexually uncontrolled Muslim mob?.” The blame on the
nameless and faceless Muslim rioters is problematic.
Amulya along with Chandranath Babu represents members of the middle class – educated,
sensitive and respected. When Amulya is brought in by the police inspector over the theft of
the six thousand rupees, Nikhil’s response is “Why are you badgering a respectable young
gentleman like Amulya Babu?” (p. 193). The prime suspect is of course Kasim - poor,
marginalized – and a Muslim. It is also the middle class which inflicts the tyranny of the
Swadeshi regimen on the poor “But now you would dictate what salt they shall eat, what
clothes they shall wear. . . Your clamour, and the zamindar’s oppression. The result: all
righteousness yours, all privations theirs!” (p. 101-102). Sandip is of course from the
middle class as well, fretting against the restrictions this places on him and wishing he were
a member of the privileged elite “Ah! But riches should really have been mine!. . .I am a
nabob born and it is a great dream of mine to get rid of this disguise of poverty . .”(p.
117). The failure of the Swadeshi movement was because the middle class leadership failed
to mobilize the peasant masses, both Hindus and Muslims, alienating them with its revivalist
agenda and boycott of cheap imported cloth.
Tagore has often been accused of being elitist, portraying the lives of the privileged, their
endless debates, musings and introspection. But in Home and the World the novel expands
to include the lot of the poor and marginalized – The Panchus and Mirjans of this world.
Panchu’s life is etched in some detail to reveal the unmitigated toil and hopelessness of the
poor peasantry: “Panchu is up before dawn every day. . . plodding on often till midnight. . .
All this cruel toil does not earn, for himself and his family, a bare two meals a day” (p. 88-
89). The failure of Lord Cornwallis’ Permanent Settlement Act can be seen in the precarious
economic condition of the zamindars as well as the further impoverishment of the
peasantry. The Act of 1793 did not have the desired effect of landlords investing in their
land – it only ensured revenue for the British while creating a class of absentee landlords.
29
Thus, Sumit Sarkar in ‘Ghare Baire in its Times’ points out real life incidents that parallel the
stories of Panchu and the Muslim tenants.”Tagore made several trips to his estates in
Selaidaha and Patisar in East Bengal when he was writing Ghare Baire. As a zamindar he
was faced with the gruelling poverty the peasants reeled under, and the space he gives to
Panchu is a recognition of the anguished cry of the exploited and marginalized. But Tagore’s
presentation of Panchu has also raised questions. P.K. Datta feels Tagore is not radical
enough – advocating benevolent paternalism while not questioning the existence of the
zamindari system.” Tanika Sarkar in “Country, Woman, and God in Home and the World”
asserts that the presentation of Panchu is ‘deeply problematic’: for it is Nikhil who realises
Panchu’s significance rather than Panchu himself; the novel denies him a “political
subjectivity’ of his own. Tanika Sarkar feels that the absence is a deliberate choice and not
a failure of imagination. Tagore had encountered several massive peasant uprisings in his
lifetime, including one on his own estate in Pabna in 1873.” Shirshendu
Chakrabartyspelling? in “In Search of an Elusive Freedom…” contrasts the inarticulate,
illiterate India represented by Panchu with the verbal manipulation, even verbal dexterity of
the middle classes.”
Structure
In Ghare Baire Tagore rejects the technique of omniscient narrator in favour of ‘atmakatha’
or personal narrative by the three main characters – Nikhil, Bimala and Sandip.
Shormishtha Panja in her essay “The Elusive Mystery and Fluidity of Life…” makes the point
that the juxtaposition of these different focalizations helps create a heteroglossic effect long
before Bakhtin made such things fashionable.” The narrative makes it increasingly difficult
to pass judgement on the characters or to essentialise them.
The multi-confessional form was in fact borrowed from Bankimchandra’s Rajani (1878).
Tapobrata Ghosh in “The Form of Home and the World” focuses on the differences between
Tagore’s and Bankim’s novels.” Bimala, Nikhil and Sandip write about themselves. But it is
not possible for the illiterate and blind flower seller Rajani to write about herself. It is
Shachindra who writes about Rajani using the pronoun ‘I’. When this happens “then
outwardness becomes more important than introspection . . . a crucial element of the
autobiographical form becomes a casualty.” Thus while the three protagonists of Home and
the World are spontaneously and of their own volition involved in continual introspection
and self-analysis, it is not impossible to conceive of Rajani, as a product of the omniscient
first person narrator.”
But it is interesting to link Tagore’s technique with Einstein’s theory of relativity. Tagore
was to meet Einstein only in 1930 [http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/tagore-einstein.html]
but his theory was current since 1905, and Tagore would certainly be aware of it. One may
look at the example of a novelist writing half a century later – Lawrence Durrell – who in the
Preface to Alexandria Quartet [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alexandria_Quartet] writes:
“In trying to work out my form I adopted, as a rough analogy, the relativity proposition. . .
the whole was intended as a challenge to the serial form of the conventional novel.”
Tagore, without theorizing, achieves a sense of multiple perspectives that shift in a

kaleidoscopic fashion – until no absolutes exist – only possibilities. The effect is in fact
‘Rashomon’ like as Panja opines. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon_(film)]. The
three narratives are interspersed with one another, and they intermesh in such a way that
there is a sense of blurring, shifting, coalescing giving a sense of fractured reality. The same
30
incidents are viewed from different perspectives, and the characters are engaged in
continual self questioning and introspection until there is no ‘right’ point of view. In
“Goddesses, Women and the Clutch of Metaphors” Saswati Sengupta points out that the
plural voices emanating from the three ‘atmakathas’ critique each other. The shifting
perspectives refuse a simple or straightforward meaning; monologic truth is thus
deconstructed.”
The technique of viewing the same incident through different perspectives gives us a sense
of the multi-dimensional nature of the world Tagore portrays – infinitely complex, vibrant
and dynamic, with no certitudes, no absolutes. The novel characteristically ends on an open
note – leaving us pondering, questioning, introspecting.
Gender
Bimala in Satyendranath Tagore’s original translation of Ghare Baire

http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/rt/woman.jpg
Writing about his childhood, Tagore has this to say about the position of women: “The
Calcutta where I was born was an altogether old world place…women used to go about in
the stifling darkness of closed palanquins…any woman who was so bold as to wear the new
fangled bodice, or shoes on her feet, was scornfully nicknamed ‘memsahib’, that is to say,
one who had cast off all sense of propriety or shame…the palanquins in which women went
out were shut as closely as their apartments in the house.”
By the time Tagore wrote Ghare Baire significant changes had taken place in the position of
women. More and more girls were emerging from seclusion and attending schools and
colleges. Chandramukhi Bose (1860-1944) and Kadambini Ganguli (1861-1923) were the
trailblazers, taking their Bachelor of Arts degrees from University of Calcutta in 1883.
Kadambini then went on to medical college and became the first woman doctor. They
31
reflected the changes that had come about in the sphere of education for girls – by 1890
there were more than 80,000 girl students. As Partha Chatterjee points out: “Formal
education thus became not only acceptable but in fact, a requirement for the new
bhadramahila (respectable woman) . . . thus opening up a domain where woman was an
autonomous subject.”
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070204/asp/opinion/story_7340747.asp
The Swadeshi Movement further accelerated the cause of women’s emancipation; many
Bengali women come out of purdah and begin to decide on crucial issues affecting their
lives. In fact the mood of self-determination in politics sparked off the politics of self-
determination of women. Andrew Robinson in Inner Eye points out that the concept of
swadeshi goods had gradually made its appearance in women’s magazines in the decade
before the Partition.” During the movement itself some women actually canvassed from
house to house collecting subscriptions for the Cause.
But under the guise of giving freedom, women were subjected to a ‘new patriarchy’. As
Chatterjee points out: “The new patriarchy advocated by nationalism conferred upon women
the honor of a new social responsibility, and by associating the task of female emancipation
with the historical goal of sovereign nationhood, bound them to a new, and yet entirely
legitimate subordination.” The adulation of woman as goddess or mother was the most
prevalent ideological construct, thus erasing her sexuality in the world outside the home.
“Bande Mataram” (Hail Mother) [http://www.kamat.org/picture.asp?Name=3320.jpg]
becomes the rallying cry with hypnotic overtones. Nationalism was thus powerfully cast into
the mould of Mother-worship. [http://www.kamat.com/picturehouse/bharat/100j.htm]
Sandip at crucial stages in the novel invokes the spell of Bande Mataram. His first
appearance is dramatic: triumphant shouts of Bande Mataram rent the air as Sandip is
borne on the shoulders of barefooted youths in turbans, clad in ascetic ochre. Sandip will
cast Bimala in the image of a goddess, until she is mesmerised into a conviction of her
divinity “Divine strength had come to me . . . it seemed to belong to me, and yet to
transcend me. It comprehended the whole of Bengal.” (p. 50). But Sandip also woos her
as a woman by designating her as Mokhirani (Queen Bee), exuding sexuality. Sandip thus
worships and woos Bimala alternately until Bimala herself is in a trance, confused by the
dual epithets showered on her. Mother –worship gradually recedes, giving way to
‘enchantress’: “It is no longer Bande Mataram ( Hail Mother ) but Hail Beloved, Hail
Enchantress.…” Sandip tells Bimala “The mother protects, the mistress leads to destruction”
(p. 177). Tanika Sarkar feels that “this transgressive eroticizing of the nationalistic
impulse” was perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the novel for Tagore’s readers.”
Tagore’s Brahmo.” background helped him to reject the revivalist aspirations which created
the cult of the Mother Goddess, deifying woman while subtly denying her equality – thus
creating new bonds of enslavement. Tagore, who had composed the tune for Bande
Mataram in the first phase of the Swadeshi movement, now offers a critique of the dangers
posed by the Hindu revivalist agenda of the Swadeshi movement. The concept of a
companionate marriage, giving equal opportunities to the wife initiated by Nikhil critiques
Sandip’s nationalism which simultaneously exalted and subordinated womanhood. Tagore
had before him the example of his own family members – his sister Swarna Kumari was the
32
first woman novelist in Bengal. There is a delightful incident involving Tagore’s elder brother
Satyendranath and his wife Jnanadanandini
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyendranath_Tagore]. Before his wife had come out of

purdah he smuggled his friend Manomohan Ghosh not only into the bedroom but into the
mosquito net to meet his wife! The whole exercise had of course to be conducted in utmost
secrecy. Satyendranath insisted on taking his wife with him to England, and the peculiar
problems faced by her with regard to dress is outlined by Jnanadananddini herself in
Puratani.” Bengali women at that time did not wear a blouse or a petticoat with the
sari.(http://movies.sulekha.com/hindi/chokher-bali/pictures/11.htm) Jnanadanandini
responded by wearing the blouse in the Parsi fashion, which promptly created a fashion!
More recently in the film Chokher Bali Binodini is shown trying on a jacket in front of the
mirror, covertly, for she is a widow and forbidden such ‘sinful’ pleasures.
A still from Rituparna Ghosh’s Chokher Bali

http://media.photobucket.com/image/chokher%20bali/7g444/chokherbali6gl.jpg
33
A scene from Ray’s film Ghare Baire portraying Bimala and Sandip
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghare_Baire_(film)
It would be an interesting exercise to catalogue all the items of clothing and accessories as
an index to ‘emancipation’. In Home and the World we have Nikhil ‘decking’ Bimala with
colourful jackets, “the many coloured garments of modern fashion,” in particular a pair of
white embroidered slippers, her first (p. 87). Even the way Bimala does up her hair in the
way Miss Gilby had taught her is an indication of her exposure to western culture.
The degree of Bimala’s emancipation may be gauged by the distance she travels away from
her ideal – her mother – a view of woman essentialised as devoted and self-sacrificing: “I
know, from my childhood’s experience, how devotion is beauty itself, in its inner aspect”
(p.18). We then have Bimala celebrating naked passion- for a man not her husband: “The
tone of his voice became as intimate as a touch, every look flung itself on its knees in
beggary. And through it all, burned a passion which in its violence made as though it would
tear me up by the roots, and drag me along by the hair.” (p. 68). Guilt of course follows
and Bimala’s confusion and uncertainties make her yearn to go back to her mother’s world,
or even the Bara Rani’s “How simply the Bara Rani sits in her verandah with her betel nuts
and how inaccessible to me has become my natural seat beside my daily duties” (p. 75-76).
But of course there is no going back – the fragmented self is the lot of women who live in a
world in transition – a world fractured within and without. In Home and the World, Sandip
finally leaves, but not before Bimala has turned him away as she has comprehended his
duplicity through Amulya. Novelist and critic Mulk Raj Anand defines Sandip as a “vulgar,
loud-mouthed Machiavellian patriot.” and Bimala’s ultimate emergence into her identity as a
woman rather than a child-bride is that she recognizes him for what he is. The reader feels
that Bimala could be given that last chance to repair her relationship with her husband,
especially as she has her new found wisdom where she sees Sandip as a self seeking
individual who cannot face up to real trouble in his political or personal life. Thus Bimala’s
34
abject prayer to her Lord is “Nothing save the music of your flute can make whole that
which has been broken, and pure that which has been sullied. Create my home anew with
your music. No other way can I see” (p. 185-186).
The fact is that Tagore puts the women in his texts again and again to the test of inter-
personal relationship with men—related to the family or otherwise-- entering their domestic
space. It happens through the men they are married to and the women do not seem to
actively seek these relationships. Referring to Kadambari Devi’s unexplained and sudden
death, Lakshmi Subramanian and Rajat K. Ray in their essay “Rabindranath Tagore and the
Crises of Personal Identity” claim that her suicide happened at a time when “women had not
yet come out of purdah. The exposure of an increasing number of educated Bengali women
to the larger world of ideas, encounters and experiences from around the beginning of the
twentieth century led to the surfacing of tensions earlier contained within the home.”
Although Bimala’s plight is strangely different, it is as though she too can do nothing to
avert the tragedy that befalls her at the end of the novel.
Kadambari Devi
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040507/images/07Rev2a.jpg
Bimala’s capitulation at the end, where she kneels at Nikhil’s feet “touching them repeatedly
with her head in obeisance” (p. 199) is disturbing - for Bimala’s courageous defiance of
marital bonds is seen to disintegrate. She is back at Nikhil’s feet, chastised and humbled,
restoring the patriarchal norms so recklessly defied earlier. “No, no, no, you must not take
35
away your feet. Let me do my worship”. Nikhil too acquiesces: “I kept still. Who was I to
stop her?” (p. 199). Is Tagore in fact foreclosing “the feminist agenda of the novel on the
tradition trail,” as Santosh Chakrabarti asserts in “On the Tradition Trail.” Does Tagore
succumb after all to the tradition set limit of the gender stereotype?
Very early in the novel, in the first pages of Bimala’s diary, she describes her marriage and
the lineage of her husband’s family. The fact is that she is not beautiful whereas all the
other brides have been very beautiful, and so in fact is the Bara Rani. Yet they have been
left as widows and Nikhil’s grandmother is hoping to avoid the same fate for this last
grandson. Bimala’s astrological signs are auspicious and it is believed that she will protect
her husband “with the conspiracy of the favourable stars” (p. 24). This again suggests the
indulgence of the grandmother, the ruler and matriarch of the family towards Bimala,
although she does not approve of Nikhil exposing Bimala to Western clothes and the
Western way of life. Her death probably allows the young people to make the mistakes they
do—such as Sandip’s advent into the house, or even Amulya’s free movements in it. He is
after all introduced as Sandip’s disciple but quickly takes a position as son or favoured
younger brother to Bimala. It may be speculated that Bimala could have come under the
disapproving gaze of Nikhil’s grandmother had she not died earlier. The latter’s concern was
that none of the other wives had been able to inspire love in their husbands, despite their
beauty, and the men had given themselves to licentious pleasure which had ultimately
destroyed them. So she said, “If my Nikhil had not been dressing up his wife there is no
knowing whom else he may have spent his money on!” (p. 25). It must be noted that it is
highly improbable that a feudal household of the times would have had just three young
people—Nikhil, Bimala and the Bara Rani—managing it without the counsel of an extended
family and its elders.
Bimala's widowed sister-in-law, in all-white, criticizes

Bimala's dream for being liberated
36
http://www.satyajitrayworld.com/images/raysfilmography/
gharebaire/gharebaire1.jpg
In the original Bangla novel of Ghare Baire, Nikhil has two older sisters-in-law who have
both been widowed and left under his care. Here, the Bara Rani takes over both the
characters, and she is shown as jealous and quarrelsome which is hardly strange under the
circumstances. Bimala returns these feelings and is irritated by her sister-in-law’s attempts
to get Nikhil’s attention. But the Bara Rani is probably the most pathetic person in the novel
for she has received nothing in her life in terms of love or riches. She is wholly dependent
on Nikhil, and her protective love for him comes from the fact that they were childhood
playmates before she became a bride, and she has shared many happy moments with him.
It is only when Nikhil sees her with her bags packed, ready to go uninvited to Calcutta with
them, that he realizes this is also a relationship that cannot be discarded, even if it is not
romantic love:
So has a true relationship grown up between us, from our childhood till now, and its
branching foliage has spread and broadened over every room… She has only this one
relationship left in all the world, and the poor, unfortunate, widowed, and childless woman
had cherished it with all the tenderness hoarded in her heart. How deeply she felt our
proposed separation I never realized so keenly as when I stood amongst her scattered
boxes and bundles (p.189).
Therefore, her position at the end of the novel, especially if Nikhil is to die, is as poignant as
Bimala’s.
The Film and the Novel

In Satyajit Ray’s movie Ghare Baire, Sandip kisses Bimala which takes away the suggestive
element of the extra-marital affair that is present in the novel. It is hard to accept Ray’s
interpretation that either Sandip or Bimala would have had the temerity to take such a step
in a feudal household which would be filled with servants eavesdropping, if not family
members like the Bara Rani peeping though the doors. She has already told the Chota Rani
that she is Nikhil’s “only dissipation and you will yet be his ruin!” (p.96). Bimala cannot
heed the warning. She is so untried in the ways of the world, and so unused to an
adventurer like Sandip, that she does not know how to, and perhaps does not even want to
protect herself against this extra-marital affair.
It may be an inverted form of revenge against her own husband, Nikhil, for bringing her out
of her sheltered existence and not being with her every step of the way to guide her in the
relationship with Sandip. That Bimala is also India rushing headlong into a political struggle
that is still unclear in its separatist and colonial innuendoes is suggested through the
heroine’s thoughts about the dangers of her situation: “In that future, I saw my country, a
woman like myself, standing expectant. She had been drawn forth from her home corner by
the sudden call of some Unknown. She has had no time to pause or ponder, or to light
herself a torch, as she rushes forward into the darkness ahead” (p.93).
37
Ray puts a closure to the story that is not there in Tagore’s novel. Bimala is seen dressed in
white, the garb of the Bengali widow which indicates that Nikhil, her husband has
succumbed to his wounds. As the scene goes into a flashback, she holds herself responsible
for what has happened.
Tagore’s novel is much more open-ended. Although Bimala might in her heart of hearts
believe that she will be punished for straying from her marital path, she may elicit some
sympathy from the reader too. After all, her relationship with Sandip has not been a
physical one. Moreover, she was pushed into a situation, perhaps of a purely cerebral
relationship, initially by her far too idealistic husband. Later she could not handle the path it
took because of her immaturity and its novelty. Sociologically, the “andolon” brought
women into the outside world, and which woman can reject the goddess-like comparison
Sandip repeatedly offered Bimala? One of the best critical commentaries on the film is that
by Andrew Robinson. He protests against Ray’s conception of Nikhil, however admiring that
may be with the following words: “…this interpretation [of Nikhil’s death] is a significant,
and in my view a mistaken, departure from Tagore’s more complex Nikhil, who comes
gradually to feel that he may have committed an error in insisting on his wife’s liberation
against the will” (HW, 238 ).
Tagore’s Humanism: Sandip and Nikhil
In his essay “Humanism in the Novels of Rabindranath Tagore,” Harish Raizada points out
that Tagore was offering a warning to those who were adopting nationalist ideals within a
framework of Hindu militancy, although he was equally critical of British administrative
policies in Bengal.” Tagore’s view is that unbridled patriotism as Sandip awkward
constructionoffers can only lead to anarchy. He throws nationalism and humanism into
direct conflict with each other, highlighted by the clash between Sandip and Nikhil, where
Bimala is caught in a trap because she represents the country, the motherland. For a while
Sandip manages to enthrall her, just as he does his young followers, as he leads them into
the boycott and burning of foreign goods.
Nikhil, by contrast, demonstrates in his calm and gentle way that he cannot take away the
means of livelihood from his Muslim traders, and what comes to pass is a divide between
the Hindus and Muslims orchestrated by Sandip. Raizada comments, “The latter represents
the pugnacious nationalism and narrow-minded patriotism of the politically conscious
Indians during the Swadeshi movement.” Sandip cannot understand that Nikhil is no less
‘Swadeshi’ in his beliefs but will not support violence of any kind—especially when it
jeopardizes the daily life of his tenants. Nikhil’s statement, “To tyrannize for the country is
to tyrannize over the country” shows his sensitivity and benevolence where humanism
triumphs over nationalism. Bimala in all her innocence also expresses Tagore’s suspicions of
the outcome of nationalism in the hands of Bengal’s leaders: “When Swadeshi had not yet
become a boast, we had despised it with all our hearts” (p. 95). If Tagore gave up the
active politics and nationalist struggle in which he had been absorbed during the first
decade of the twentieth century, it was because he ultimately felt it was wrong to doubt in
the goodness of humanity. In a profoundly beautiful song written in the early ’30s, he
expresses this sentiment—“Oi maha manaba aashey” or that we should wait for the coming
of “the universal man.” Subramanian and Ray affirm that “deeper introspection enables him
after the Swadeshi movement to acquire a certain detachment with regard to both East and
West and to evolve an international outlook which all the same is?firmly rooted in an Indian
context.”
38
If it were ever assumed that Sandip may have been cast in the character of Gandhi,
because he asks his followers to accept everything ‘swadeshi’ or of Indian-make, this
assessment is completely incorrect. rewrite Sandip has a penchant for foreign cigarettes and
even medicines that will keep his dyspepsia away. Indeed, Nikhil and Sandip are friends
who turn into rivals to present the positive and negative angles of the Swadeshi movement
that becomes more of an intellectual debate for the reader/audience. Sandip confesses:
The chief controversy between Nikhil and myself arises from this: that though I say ‘know
thyself’, and Nikhil also says ‘know thyself’, his interpretation makes this ‘knowing
tantamount to not knowing. “Winning your kind of success,” Nikhil once objected, “is
success gained at the cost of the soul: but the soul is greater than success.” (p.80)
Sandip sings several songs that Tagore wrote specifically for the novel. Besides, he also
quotes English poetry, refers to Radha’s song, the Upanishads and Bande Mataram to
impress Bimala. His lover-like performances do sweep her off her feet before she realizes
that he is only interested in what money he can extract from her. “The scheming, vicious
Sandip,” says critic R.P. Bhaskar, “in whom there is much of the stuff with which Iago is
made, is perhaps the most charming villain in Indian fiction.”
Satyajit Ray cast Soumitra Chatterjee as Sandip in the screenplay of Ghare Baire. However,
it is worthwhile to note that Chatterjee plays the ‘other’ man in both Charulata and Ghare
Baire. Ray also uses one of Tagore’s songs—‘Bidhir bandhan katbey tumi aemoni
shaktimaan’ -to give Sandip stature as a swadeshi leader, as Tagore himself was when he
composed this song during the First Partition of Bengal in 1905.
This makes Sandip’s failure more emphatic at the end of the novel. What Sandip does in the
course of the novel is extremist and typical; he does not consider the lot of the poor
peasants, and also wants the Hindus and Mulsims to separate. Panja clarifies that in the
novel Tagore presents the “flip side of Swadeshi: it is a bourgeois, urban movement
imposed from above on poor traders and farmers, often Muslim, who can ill afford it.”
Sandip’s stance is to make a few fiery speeches, get some young men attached to his
cause…and move on. Thus he informs Nikhil and Bimala of his departure in a mockingly
abrupt manner: “The Mussalmans, I am told, have taken me for an invaluable gem, and are
conspiring to loot and hide me away in their graveyard. But I feel that it is necessary that I
should live… So, for the present, I must be gone” (pp. 200-01). He does not care that he is
leaving riots behind him and looting at the Treasury which Nikhil must ride out to quell.
Nikhil is the benevolent landlord because he truly wants to look after his Hindu and Muslim
peasants equally well. Tagore probably cast Nikhil in a mould of himself and what he saw in
the administration of their family estates in Selaidaha. Yes, indeed Nikhil is a humanist. But
humanism does not mean that God should rescue man from all his troubles. In fact Tagore
offers himself to the trials and tribulations sent to man to make him stronger. Humanism
meant that as man put himself more to the test and achieved his goals through his own
actions, he rose in stature.
39
Ultimately, he came into the presence of God through his own imagination as so many of
the Gitanjali poems attest. Even the songs of the Geetobitan written on love, nature and
worship dovetail into one another so that the emergent philosophy is of the lover, the
beauty of creation and the Almighty being one and inseparable. In fact comprehending love
and the beauty of nature, and therefore understanding mankind, are tantamount to finding
spirituality. Thus, we may conclude with Tagore’s own words from his poem “When I go
from hence:”
In this playhouse of infinite forms I have had my play and

here have I caught sight of Him that is formless.
My whole body and my limbs have thrilled with his touch
who is beyond touch; and if the end comes here, let it
come—let this be my parting word.
[Gitanjali]
Tagore's Songs
Eko Shutre
Phoole Phoole Dhole Dhole
Ei Monihar Amar
Katobaro Bhebechinu
40
Summary
The first part of this article focuses on Tagore’s life in its various phases. His childhood
spent among his family members at Jorasankho is memorable because of the political and
intellectual input he received which led to his contributions to scholarly journals of the time.
He published Bhanusingher Padavali much to the surprise of those around him. Although he
had no formal education, and even when he went to England he busied himself with learning
more about foreign music and culture, he gave a number of powerful lectures in Calcutta
upon his return. He started writing copiously, and published every form of literature one can
think of – novels, plays, poetry, songs and essays. He met many great men of his time and
was introduced to Mahatma Gandhi who gave him the appellation, ‘the great sentinel.’
Tagore won the Nobel prize for literature in 1913 for his book of poems, the Gitanjali and
also renounced his knighthood received from the British Crown for the appalling atrocities of
the Jalianwala Bagh incident. He spent a great deal of time in Santiniketan setting up the
Viswa Bharati University. Tagore died in Calcutta on 7th August, 1941.
The second section traces Tagore’s contribution to the National Movement with
special focus upon the first partition of Bengal in 1905. This is the major political event
against which Tagore’s novel, Home and the World is set. It is important to note that Tagore
wrote most of his patriotic song during this period, and often sang them himself in public
procession. Tagore’s involvement with Gandhian politics, their points of disagreement but
deep mutual respect for each other is also outlined in this section.
The third section outlines Tagore’s deep interest in music and how he came to write
the 2200 songs contained in the Geetobitan. He was taught Hindustani Classical music at
home but was also deeply influenced by the ‘baul-songs’ of the wandering minstrels in
Selaidaha, and later in Santiniketan. He also brought the melodious kirtans of Bangal into
his songs, inter-mingling them with the raga-raginis of the pure classical idiom. He was also
deeply influenced by English songs and Western classical music when he visited England,
and many such ‘breakaway’ songs were composed for his early dance drama. Although
there is something similar about the Western opera and the dance drama, essence and
production of the latter are different. This is exemplified in the various pieces he wrote.
Tagore was deeply concerned about issues regarding women and these are presented in
dance drama Chitrangada. The section ends with a review of Tagore’s last hobby, painting.
He held exhibitions abroad but the Indian audience did not really commend him as a
painter. He was first and foremost a poet, which is also the title he claimed for himself.
Home and the World : Political Background. The novel is set against the backdrop of the
Partition of Bengal in 1905. It was Lord Curzon’s most unpopular measure, and sparked off
a public outcry and protests by the people of Bengal. Rabindranath Tagore: Home and the
World played a pivotal role in providing leadership to the movement against the Partition.
The movement developed into a call for swaraj or self-rule centering on the use of swadeshi
or Indian made goods. Tagore however was to distance himself from the Swadeshi
movement after the outbreak of communal riots in Bengal in 1907.
Tagore’s Novels. In three novels Gora (circa1909) Ghare Baire (1916) and Char
Adhyaya (Four Chapters 1934) Tagore offers a critique of the Swadeshi movement. Tagore’s
essays on Nationalism provide insights into the novels. In Home and the World Nikhil and
41
Sandip represent two aspects of the Swadeshi movement – Constructive and Extremist –
and Bimala symbolizes Bengal – torn between the two.
Reviews: Ghare Baire was published in 1916 and was denounced by critics as anti-
tradition and anti-Hindu. Tagore’s portrayal of the Swadeshi movement in a negative light
and his non-judgemental presentation of Bimala as the transgressive wife drew hostile
comments. The English translation of the novel was published in 1919 and the unfavourable
reviews it elicited reveal a misunderstanding of the socio-political issues it dealt with.
The Social Bedrock: The Novel presents a picture of rural Bengal at the beginning of
the twentieth century. The three-tier structure consists of the zamindar, the middle class
and the poor and the marginalized. The focus on Panchu indicates Tagore’s growing concern
for the lot of the underprivileged.
Structure: Atmakatha or personal narrative replaces the technique of the omniscient

narrator. Tagore had before him the example of Bankimchandra’s Rajani but Tagore’s use of
multiple perspectives is far more complex. The effect of shifting perspectives reflects the
complexity of the multi-dimensional world Tagore portrays.
Gender: The novel reflects the changes that came about in the position of women in
Tagore’s lifetime. The Nationalist movement gave greater freedom to women who came out
of purdah to join mainstream politics. There was however a subtle evocation of a new
patriarchy by which women were subordinated. Tagore critiques the cult of Bande Mataram
or mother Goddess through Sandip who woos Bimala under the guise of Mother worship.
Nikhil’s belief in the concept of companionate marriage and emancipation of women is
upheld. Tagore’s Brahmo upbringing and the example of emancipated women in his own
family helped him to break free of traditional hierarchies and gender prejudices.
The last section discusses the roles of Sandip and Nikhil in Home and the World, as
representatives of the politics of the age, and also in terms of their strange and complex
involvement with Bimala, Tagore as a humanist is revealed in this section, mostly through
his portraiture of Nikhil. Nikhil’s position as a landlord, and his stance with his farmers and
tenants, is an image of Tagore’s life in Selaidaha. Through Nikhil‘s relationship with his wife
we again see Tagore’s sensitivity towards women and understand perhaps why so many of
his novels and plays have women as the central figure. Thus from love in relationships, we
move to Tagore’s love for God and the culmination of his philosophy regarding man’s
oneness with God.
42
Bibliography
Anand, Mulk Raj. Rabindranath Tagore: Centenary Volume. Calcutta: Tagore Centenary
Citizens’ Committee, 1961.
Chaudhurani, Indira Debi, ed. Puratoni. Calcutta: Indian Associated Public Co., 1957.
Chaudhuri, Bhudeb and K.G. Subramanyam, eds. Rabindranath Tagore and the Challenges
of Today. Simla: IIAS, 1988.
Dasgupta, Uma, ed. The Oxford Tagore: Selected Writings on Education and Nationalism.
Delhi: Oxford UP, 2009.
Durrell, Lawrence. The Alexandria Quartet. London: Faber and Faber, 1962.
Dutta, P.K. ed. Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World. Delhi: Permanent Black,
2003.
Forster, E.M. Abinger Harvest. London, 1983.
Ghosh, Santidev. Rabindrasangeet Vichitra. Trans. Mohit Chakrabarti. New Delhi: Concept
Pub. Co., 2006.
Ghosh, Sisir Kumar. Rabindranath Tagore. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1986.
Kulasreshtha, Mahendra, ed. The Genius of Tagore: Centenary Volume. Calcutta:

Centenary Citizens’ Committee, 1961.
Lukacs, Georg. Reviews and Articles. Trans. Peter Palmer. London: Merlin P, 1983.
Nandy, Ashis. The Illegitimacy of Nationalism. Delhi: Oxford UP, 1988.
Panja, Shormishtha. Many Indias, Many Literatures: New Critical Essays. Delhi: Worldview,
1999.
The Partha Chatterjee Omnibus. Delhi: Oxford UP, 1999.
Ray, Mohit K., ed. Studies on Rabindranath Tagore. Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 2004.
Robinson, Andrew. Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye. London: 1989.
Sarkar, Sumit. Modern India. Calcutta: Macmillan, 1983.
Sen, Amartya. The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity.
London: Penguin, 2005.
---. “Tagore and His India.” New York Times Aug. 28, 2001.
43
Sengupta, Saswati et al, eds. Towards Freedom: Critical Essays on Rabindranath Tagore’s
Ghore Baire/The Home and the World. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2007.
Sharma, T.R., ed. Perspectives on Rabindranath Tagore. Ghaziabad: Bimal prakashan,

1986.
Tagore, Rabindranath. The Home and the World. Trans. Surendranath Tagore. London:
Macmillan, 1919. Rpt. New Delhi: Penguin India, 1985.
---. My Early Life. Ed. Rajiva Verma. Bombay and Calcutta: Macmillan, 1956.
---. Selected Poems of Rabindranath Tagore. Trans. William Radice. London: Penguin,
1965.
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The Home and the World: Rabindranath Tagore

Lesson : The Home and the World: Rabindranath Tagore

Course Developers : Ajanta Dutt and Sujata Nag

College / Department : D e s hb and hu C o l l e g e ,

Rabindranath’s father was Maharshi Devendranath Thakur, founder-member of the Brahmo

In February 1881, Tagore’s dance-drama Valmiki Pratibha was staged in Calcutta at

Tagore and his wife Mrinalini Devi

The Film: Kabuliwallah (in Hindi)

Silaidaha and Santiniketan

Rabindranath Tagore, Hampstead, London, 1912

Tagore - Noble Prize Recipient for Literature

The Last Phase

Tagore in the last year of his life

In 1935, Tagore headed a troupe of traveling dancers to perform Chitrangada, to raise

Tagore with his students in Santiniketan, 1940

The Swadeshi Movement

The Patriotic Songs and the Swadeshi Movement

Ek shutrey bandhiyachhi shahasroti mon,

Ek kaarjey shonpiyachhi shahasro jeebon—

Bande Mataram, Bande Mataram.

[A thousand minds are strung on a single thread

A thousand lives have been dedicated to a single task,

Hail to thee Mother]

Hey kishore, tooley lawo tomraa udaar joy bheri,

Aamra daarhabo uthi, aamra chhutiyaa baahiribo,

[O young people, lift up the generous boat of joy,

Call out in welcome,

We shall rise, we shall run outside,

We shall dedicate our hearts]

Nehru always affirmed that Tagore’s nationalism was branded by a sense of

Shataabdir surjo aaji rokto-megh maakha osto gelo:

Hinshaar utshobey aaji bajey

Ostrey ostrey moroner unmaad ragini bhoyonkori…

The Partition of Bengal: Bango-bhango Aandolon, 1905

The British Empire in 1905 (red)

Oder bandhon jotoi shakto hobey totoi bandhon tutbey

Moder totoi bandhon tutbey;

Oder aankhi jotoi rakto hobey moder aankhi phutbey

Totoi moder aankhi phutbey.

Our chains are bound to break;

The more our eyes will open.]

Bidhir bandhon kaatbey tumi, emon shaktimaan

Tumi ki emni shaktimaan.

Aamader bhangagorha tomaar haatey emon abhimaan

Tomaader emni abhimaan.

Are you really so powerful,

Breaking or binding us is in your hands you think

Is that really what you believe]

Ahoroho tobo aobhaano prochaarito, shuni tobo udaaro baani,

Hindu Boudhho Shikh Jaino Paaroshik Mussalman Khrishtaani;

Purabo pashchimo aashey, tobo shinghashono paashey,

Premohaar hoyo gaatha.

Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains Parsees, Muslims and Christians;

East and West they meet, beside your throne.

A garland of love is thus strung.]

After the 1905 Partition

Our voyage is begun Captain, we bow to Thee,

Gandhi and Tagore

The Last Years

Jahara tomaar bishaaichhey baayu, nibhaichhey tobo aalo,

Tumi ki taader kkhoma koriyaachho,

Tumi ki beshechho bhaalo?

Gandhi visits Tagore in Santiniketan, 1940