252
Shilaidaha
15 December 1895
The days pass in this way. And then, in the evenings, by the time I row to the sandbank on the other shore, walk and return, it is already night. I’ve tried to describe the incredible beauty of the evening upon the still, silent river and the trees on the other shore, but it’s beyond description—you can’t imagine that beauty and that peace if you are far from it. When I return to Calcutta even I may not be able to recall it exactly. Last evening, after having immersed my entire heart, mind and will in this evening scene, when I was slowly returning in my jolly boat through the golden dark, suddenly, from an unseen boat far away came the sound of a violin playing at first the Pūrbī and then the Imankalyāṇ ālāp—and the entire still river and silent sky filled up completely with the human heart. Before that I had been thinking that there is perhaps no equivalence to this evening scene in the world of man—but the moment the melody of Pūrbī began to play I felt that it too was an amazingly deep and limitlessly beautiful affair, that it too was a crucial creation—how easily the rāginī blended with all the magic of the evening, without a break anywhere—my entire heart filled up. After returning to the boat I sat down with the harmonium again after a long time. One by one I sang a number of newly composed songs slowly in a low tone—I felt like composing a few songs again—but I haven’t managed to do so yet.
Introduction
* For an explanation regarding the name he uses for her—‘Bob’—see the following section, ‘The Young Woman’.
* The dates at the bottom of the letters indicating when and where they were received have not been included here. There was a great deal of confusion about dates and days, as Rabindranath himself was wrong in many instances, so the dates deemed to be correct by the editor of Chinnapatrbal have been maintained.
* All the English words in italics in the text of the translations in this book indicate that the English word was originally used in the letters, either in Bengali script or spelt in English.
* Baṛa bedanār mata bejecha tumi he āmār prāe,/mana ye keman kare mane mane tāhā manai jāne … (Oh, you have played upon my heart like the deepest hurt/Only the heart knows how dejected the heart feels, all on its own …)
* These long sentences, sometimes up to a page in length, have been kept intact along with their original punctuation of successive dashes or commas, wherever possible in these translations.
1
* Beli (Bela): Rabindranath’s firstborn, daughter Madhurilata, born 25 October 1886.
† Na-didi: Swarnakumari Debi (1855–1932), fourth daughter of Debendranath Tagore and Rabindranath’s older sister (didi). She was an accomplished writer, editor of Bhrat and Blak, famous nationalist and activist for women’s rights.
* Sarala: Rabindranath’s niece and Swarnakumari’s daughter, Saraladebi Chaudhurani, who was best known for her militant nationalism and, later, her friendship with Mahatma Gandhi.
† Baṛ-didi: Saudamini Debi, first daughter of Debendranath Tagore and Rabindranath’s eldest sister.
2
* Suri: Surendranath Tagore, Indira’s brother.
3
* Swayamprabha was the daughter of Sharatkumari Debi, and a niece of Rabindranath’s.
† Dada: Bengali term for elder brother; also used as a suffix. It is unclear in this instance which older brother is being referred to.
‡ Khoka: Rathindranath Tagore, Rabindranath’s second child and elder son, born on 27 November 1888.
4
* Choto-ma: Rabindranath’s wife, Mrinalini Debi. Later referred to as ‘Choto-bau’: wife of the youngest son in a joint family.
* The word praj literally means subject or the people, and here refers to the poor tenanted farmers who tilled the estates. The word ‘peasant’ or ‘tenant’ has been used throughout in place of praj.
5
* Heli nāṭya was the title of a number of charades composed by Rabindranath and published in the periodicals Blak and Bhrat between 1885 and 1886.
† A munsef was an officer trying suits at the lowest civil court. The cpkn was a long and loose robe that was usually part of the official dress.
6
* Neb: administrator and rent collector of the estate.
† Khjñci: treasurer or paymaster of the estate.
* Pik: footman, guard or messenger. Kchri: landlord’s, or in this case the district magistrate’s, court of justice.
10
* ncal: The end of a sari flung over a woman’s shoulder.
* The miṛ can most approximately be translated as glissando—a glide from one pitch to another, a bending of the strings on a stringed instrument or of the notes in a vocal performance.
† The waning moon during the dark fortnight is referred to as the Kshnapaksha moon.
14
* As Rabindranath explains in the next sentence, kāňcikāṭhā is the word for a narrow passage that lets out the water from large marshes (bil) into a river.
19
* A colloqiual phrase indicating that a story has ended; literally: ‘my words have come to an end, the nṭae shrub is shorn of its leaves’.
20
* Khb ektturkincan: probably referring to the whirling dervish.
25
* Baṛ-dada: Dvijendranath Tagore, eldest brother of Rabindranath.
27
* Mmvaurer bhgne: The relationship referred to is brother-in-law or l, a common Indian expletive.
* Bhairo: colloquial Hindustani for Bhairav, a morning raga; meant to be played or performed in the morning.
† Hindi for ‘I’ll make some right now’.
28
* Jyoti: Jyotirindranath Tagore, fifth son of Debendranath.
† Birendra: Birendranath Tagore, fourth son of Debendranath.
30
* arat: Rabindranath’s favourite season, and one that will recur many times in the course of these letters. Corresponds to the time of year in Bengal after the rains when the skies clear in autumn.
34
* Ll can be roughly translated as god’s sport.
35
* The Kojāgar Pūrṇāimā is the full-moon night when Hindus worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.
36
* Sholli may presumably be short for Sarala, his niece.
44
* Renuka: the third child and second daughter of Rabindranath and Mrinalini, born 23 January 1891.
49
* Pierre Loti was the pseudonym of Julien Viaud (1850–1923), a French novelist and naval officer. Edmund Gosse said about his work in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911): ‘Many of his best books are long sobs of remorseful memory, so personal, so intimate, that an English reader is amazed to find such depth of feeling compatible with the power of minutely and publicly recording what is felt.’
55
* Peneti: colloquial term for Panihati.
61
* Abhi: Abhigyasundari, third daughter of Hemendranath Tagore and Rabindranath’s niece.
63
* Nahabat khn: The outdoor location for the performance of a group of musicians, usually on the ni (shehnai in Hindi or Urdu), which is a wooden wind instrument. The recital itself is referred to as the nahabat.
70
* Paul et Virginie (or Paul and Virginia) is a novel by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, first published in 1787.
71
* Phige: a species of fork-tailed passerine birds.
75
* James Sully (1842–1923) was an English psychologist; his books include Sensation and Intuition (1874), Pessimism (1877) and Illusions (1881; 4th ed. 1895).
77
† Thacker’s refers to Thacker, Spink & Co., well-known publishers and booksellers in Calcutta in the nineteenth century.
86
* A long, loose overcoat of rough cloth, frequently with a belt and a detachable hood or shoulder cape.
92
* Caturda: the fourteenth day
of the lunar fortnight.
110
* Goṛāẏ galad [The Initial Mistake]: Rabindranath’s first prose comedy, published in 1892.
117
* Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) was a Swiss philosopher, poet and critic. His most famous book is the Journal Intime (Private Journal), which, published after his death in 1882, became widely popular in Europe, and was almost immediately translated into English by Mary Ward or Mrs Humphrey Ward.
123
* In his reminiscences, Chelebel, Rabindranath says: ‘In the nabbi style, the servants’ quarters in those days used to be called the toshkhn.’
144
* A line from the Bhgabat Gt, which may roughly be translated to mean: ‘God’s creation has not its source in any necessity, it comes from his fullness of delight, and then it is his love that creates, therefore in creation is God revealed.’ Or, to summarize: ‘Joy springs from creation itself, it has no external cause.’
151
* Kenilworth: a historical romance by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1821.
152
* This is the way the words of the song are written down in the letter. The words of the song as it appears in the Gtabitn have changed a little from this version.
159
* Rabindranath uses the word de throughout to mean Bengal.
177
* Aban: Abanindranath Tagore, famous artist and nephew of Rabindranath, who lived in the neighbouring Tagore household at No. 5 Jorasanko. His grandfather, Girindranath, was Debendranath Tagore’s brother; when Debendranath opted for the Brahmo Samaj, his family resided at No. 6 Jorasanko, while the other branch chose to remain with the household Hindu deity at Dwarakanath Tagore’s house at No. 5. Relations between the two houses always remained cordial.
180
* The word jocchony is rendered here as pronounced by the illiterate maidservant.
191
* A sweet preparation made with semolina, sugar and raisins cooked in gh.
193
* Iru: Irabati Debi, daughter of Baṛ-didi.
197
* ‘Thus did Yjavalkya instruct [Janaka]: “This is his [the seer’s] highest goal; this is his highest treasure; this is his highest world; this is his greatest bliss. On a particle of this very bliss other creatures live.”’ From the Brihadranyaka Upanishad, IV.3.32.
215
* Gaṛer māṭh: literally, the fields of the fort; refers to the fields of the well-manicured grassland around Fort William in Calcutta, also referred to as the Maidan.
217
* Batriś siṃhāsan: refers to the legend of the thirty-two thrones of King Vikramaditya.
218
* Ṭhākur, meaning the gods, is being punned on here, as it is also, of course, Rabindranath’s family’s surname in Bengali.
222
* A section of Sdhan was devoted to the discussion of something called the pāñcabhautik sabh, which roughly translates as ‘gathering of the five elements’, where personifications representing the five elements debated particular issues. The topics of discussion could vary from ‘The Significance of Poetry’ [Kbyer ttparya] to ‘The Satisfaction of Beauty’ [Saundarya sammandheantosh].
Notes
Introduction
1. Buddhadeva Bose, Āmār chelebelā, cited in Samir Sengupta (ed.), Buddhadeb basur jīban (Calcutta: Bikalpa, 1998), p.14.
2. Rabindranath Tagore, Chinnapatrābalī, edited by Kanai Samanta, first published October 1960 (Kolkata: Visva-Bharati Press, 2004).
3. Rabindranath Tagore, Chinnapatra (Calcutta, 1912).
4. Rabindranath Tagore, Glimpses of Bengal: Selected from the Letters of Sir Rabindranath Tagore 1885–1895 (London: Macmillan, 1921).
5. Tagore, Chinnapatrabālī, p. 355.
6. Introduction to Tagore, Glimpses of Bengal, p. v.
7. Prasantakumar Pal, Rabijībanī (Rabi’s Life) (Calcutta: Ananda Publishers, 1984), Vol. 3, pp. 39–40.
8. Gautam Chakrabarty, Ananda Bazaar Patrika, 5 December 2010.
9. Subhash Chaudhuri (ed.), Indira debi pramatha chaudhuri patrābalī (Letters of Indira Debi and Pramatha Chaudhuri) (Calcutta: Ananda Publishers, 1987), pp. 28 and 7.
10. Chitra Deb, Thākurbāṛir andarmahal (The Inner Quarters of the Tagore Household) (Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, 2010), p. 81.
11. ‘Nāsik haite khuṛār patra’ (An Uncle’s Letter from Nasik), Bhāratī, Bhādra-Āśvin 1293 BE (Bengali Era).
12. Giribala is to be found in the story ‘Megh o roudra’ (Cloud and Sunlight), first published in Sādhanā.
13. For a discussion of this essay, see Amit Chaudhuri, Introduction to Clearing a Space: Reflections on India, Literature and Culture (Delhi: Penguin, 2013).
14. Roland Barthes, ‘The Rustle of Language’ in The Rustle of Language (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), p. 76. For a detailed discussion, see Rosinka Chaudhuri, Chapter Seven, The Literary Thing: History, Poetry and the Making of a Modern Cultural Sphere (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2013).
15. Biswajit Roy, Ananda Bazaar Patrika, 8 May 2011.
16. Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Bā ṇ gālī jībane ramaṇī (A Social History: Women in Bengali Society) (Calcutta: Mitra and Ghosh, 1967), p. 78.
17. My translation. Ranajit Guha, Chaẏ ṛtur gān (Song of Six Seasons) (Calcutta: Charchapad, 2009), p. 80.
Letter 44114
1. This paragraph (beginning ‘When Khoka sits there’) is from the manuscript of Jībansmṛti in the Rabindra-Bhavana: No. 146, pp. 7–8, Santiniketan. Inserted by the editor of Chinnapatrābalī in 1960.
Acknowledgements
While translation is always generally acknowledged as a difficult task in itself, translating from Tagore, it has been readily conceded, is an endeavour most peculiarly susceptible to failure. My work here has been made easier by the patience and cooperation of colleagues and friends who have answered queries, listened to passages, and provided references, chiefly Sibaji Bandyopadhyay, Partha Chatterjee, Manabi Majumdar and Dwaipayan Bhattacharya. I presented a portion of the introduction at a seminar at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, in September 2013, and I am grateful for the keen response of faculty and students there. Dipesh Chakrabarty had read the first draft of some of these letters, and to him I owe the illuminating thought that these wonderful letters actually allow you to be, for a moment, as if ‘in the company of the man’. Amit Chaudhuri—‘il miglior fabbro’—was available on demand to test the sound of the sentence on the page; for that I am, as always, grateful.
Two of these letters have been previously published in the Telegraph under the title ‘Letters from Another Autumn’, on 4 October 2011; they have been further revised since. Radha Chakravarty and Fakrul Alam are to be thanked for the freedom they allowed me in choosing what I wanted to translate for The Essential Tagore (Harvard University Press and Visva-Bharati, 2011). The original selection I made for them was the seedbed for this entire project, setting in motion the process that would ultimately result in this book. I must also thank Supriyo Tagore and Supurna Devi (via Srimanti) for responding to my queries, as also my uncle, Kamal Ghosh, for his help. Most of all, my gratitude to Diya Kar Hazra at Penguin for having the foresight and generosity of a great commissioning editor, and having so readily agreed to my suggestion of publishing these letters in translation; to Sivapriya and Ambar Chatterjee for having attended to innumerable workable and unworkable suggestions with patience and courtesy; and to Richa Burman for an admirable job at the proofs stages.