Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Bichitra and Rabindranath

A hand-written patrika named "Shanti" was published in Shantiniketan In its Aswin issue a notification was published in the context of " Kala-Bignaner Charchchar...Kendra". Gurudev had established an Institution for Development of Art and Technology. in Calcutta and for which he had gifted his own house and renamed it as Kalabhavan. This was known as "Bichitra" indue course. Abanindranath wrote the details of the plan on 27th April, 1915 to Rothenstien;
" Work is  going very slow here, so I am thinking of starting a sort of art club in my uncle's house making Rathi take charge of it. We are going to begin in a very small way at first -- just a place for meeting the artists and exhibiting their work,gradually we will try to develop our club into a regular Home for artists ."
Mary Lago wrote mistakingly;
" The 'sort of art club" became the 'Indian Society for Oriental Arts' established in 1907.
Rabindranath informed Pearson on 19th Jun, 1915;
" I am trying to start a model school in our Jorasanko house where rational methods will be followed and board of examiners defied. If it is successful it will be an object lesson to our bolpur school. We shall keep you in advisory board -- for you will be able to help it when in cours of time it shows any sign of ossification."
Pearson was in Ragarh at that time. Having returned to Jorasanko, he wrote to Nagendranath about the proposed school;
" The model school will open on July 1st and there will be 22 boys mostly relatives.The fee will be Rs.35/- without food and Ajit will be the first Headmaster. There are music and drawing classes and there will also be eventually some industrial classes in such subjects as carpentry, pottery etc. They want to get an English lady or gentleman to teach English. Sarat Babu has also been offered a post either as a Mathematical teacher in the Model schoolor as an accountant. ...Jatin Babu also will teach."
Rabindranath wrote Andrews about the English teacher :
" We are in wamnt of a teacher whose mother tongue is English and ho is not too expansive for us. We tried YWCA and other likely places but without  success.Do you know anybody you can recommend ? The condition is that she or he does not know our vernaculars and is amiable to our Indian children."
It was known from the letter written by Pearson to Nagendranath on 9th July that the classes had been started.
" The school at Jorasanko is going strong and gurudev is himself teaching from 11 to 5 every day so I hear."
Kalidas Nag wrote on 12 July;
" RathiBabu talked over phone in the morning -- Today a meeting has been arranged at 7 P.M. in the evening.-- I went there after my college ours -- the Poet read a wonderful story on Technology.
then there was meeting, songsthis was the first meeting of Bichitra-- It will be held on every Saturday."
The name Bichitra was heard for the first time. But there was no meeting on every Saturday.