Today, on the birth anniversary of poet, philosopher and artist, Rabindranath Tagore, we curate a list of his lesser-known short stories as well as valuable insight into his works as a painter
Tagore (right) with Jawaharlal Nehru. Pics Courtesy/Wikimedia commons
Babus of Nayanjore
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This is a story about the landlords of Nayanjore, “the Babus”, who lived extravagant lives before the floods washed away their wealth. Kailas Babu, the protagonist, who is the last descendant of the lot, travels to Calcutta, having lost all of his landed property. However, he carries with him his ancestral pride and his heirloom. The narrator elaborately lists what the latter included: “a silver cruet for sprinkling scented water, a filigree box for otto-of-roses, a small gold salver, a costly ancient shawl, and the old-fashioned ceremonial dress and ancestral turban”. Babus of Nayanjore deals with class conflicts and the ideas of being self-made versus inheriting ancestral property.
From Stories from Tagore, translated by Charles Freer Andrews.
Misplaced Hope/Forlorn Hope (Bengali: Durasha)
After arriving in Darjeeling, the narrator, “a freshly bloomed Bengali Englishman”, finds the urge to go for a walk down the Calcutta Road. During his walk, as little drizzles of rain and clouds of fog envelope the town, he comes across a weeping woman, who reveals herself to be the daughter of Ghulam Kader Khan of Badraon. She has a story to share. Her story casts light on the austerity of Brahmanism and the extent to which she went, following Kesharlal, a Hindu Brahmin, until she realised that it wasn’t so much a path that showed the right way of living but a mere habit, a practice.
From Selections from Galpaguchchha, translated by RK Chattopadhyay
The Two Sisters (Bengali: Dui Bon)
The Two Sisters deals with ideas of human frailty, desire, and the complications within certain marriages, that often leave a sour taste in everyone’s mouths. The story revolves around the life of Shashanka and his wife Sharmila. An unexpected turn of events takes place when her sister, Urmimala arrives to stay with them. The story is reflective of the representation of ‘the woman’ that came to be drawn by men in the period of nationalism in 1930s and ’40s India. The opening lines are telling, when the narrator says, “There are two kinds of women, or so I’ve heard some pundits say.” While this is written as a novella, it reads like a short story because of its pace.
From Two Sisters, translated by Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee
A Wife’s Letter (Bengali: Streer Patra)
This epistolary story, as the title suggests, is a letter written by a wife after 15 years of being married. She confesses about how she felt within the house in which she lived with her husband. She also opens up about writing poetry in secrecy, which helped her all these years. Recognising her own intelligence, she fights for her independence. When Bindu, her sister-in-law’s sister comes to stay with them, she begins to witness similar events unfolding which snatch Bindu’s freedoms too. The story was adapted into a Bengali film by Purpendru Pant in 1972. One may identify the role of the protagonist portrayed by Madhavi Mukherjee, who played the better-known Charulata in Satyajit Ray’s film.
From Selections from Galpaguchchha, translated by RK Chattopadhyay
Hungry Stones (Bengali: Kshudhita Pashan)
Tagore’s ghost stories are not always the first choice of his readers when they read his writings. But such stories make for some of the most interesting finds. Hungry Stones captures a brief moment in the life of a collector of cotton duties, who goes to stay in a house which was the former palace of Emperor Mahmud Shah II. He’s given a warning by the clerk “Pass the day there, if you like… but never stay the night.” Soon, he is enchanted by its spell and the spirits of its past residents, some anguished souls who left curses behind. In 1991, the story was turned into a film adaptation by Gulzar. He called the film “Lekin…” (“But…”), a word uttered ever so frequently on recognising a moment of doubt. From Selections from Galpaguchchha, translated by RK Chattopadhyay
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Artful masterpieces
Face of a woman, inspired by Kadambari Devi, ink on paper, on display at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
Apart from being a poet and a writer, Tagore was also a painter. Having grown up in a family of artists, he learnt how to paint but his style was unlike that of his nephews Abanindranath and Gaganendranath Tagore who led the Bengal School of Art.
He never wished to name his paintings, urging the viewers to read them as they liked. His early art often entailed shapes of imagined animals, “a probable animal” as he would call these. His later portraits, however, were some of the most melancholic ones, reflecting his own grief over the death of those he loved and lost. What’s so beautiful is that he founded Visva-Bharati University, which would be a “seat of learning”, a space for creative ideas to flow freely and flourish. Kala Bhavan, the fine art institute, continues to see passionate art students pursue their dreams.
. A Quick View: Clip from Sotheby’s YouTube video on Tagore’s Paintings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBYu0dFhRjk
. A Detailed Lecture on his Art: Clip from Smithsonian Education on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYriVkYlFHg
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