Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Rabindranath and Ranu (contd-5)

Rabindranath remained in Santiniketan for about four months from Summer Vacation and engaged himself in teaching the students of Brahmacharyasram. The principal Sushil Kumar Rudra started for Delhi 13th Sept, 1918, after staying in Santiniketan for one month. Rabindranth wrote to Ranu on 15th Sept;
" So long, Rudra Saheb, Principal of St. Stephen College, Delhi was in Santiniketan. He used to sit in a bench with the students in my class. He was very enthusiastic. He was for about one month.Day before yesterday he had gone." He wrote in that letter that the class of Bidhushekhar Sashtri had been shifted to the 1st floor in his bed room from the corridor in front of the Library for he was feeling disturbed due to the noise created by the students of the next class.But the class had to be shifted again due to the increase of the number students in his class. He described the new place where it  was shifted; " There was a big banyan tree in the west side of the residence of Jagadananda Babu -- a thatched room was constructed in that place - the marvel seat of mine had been transferred from the l;ibrary to that place - now it provides sitting facilities of more than one hundred students. The place now looked very beautiful. I asked the students to prepare path for their communication and made it beautiful by drafting different trees of flowers and shrubs.:"
Rabindranath used to made arrangements for reading poetry of Shelley on the roof of the Dehali for Pratima Devi, daughter-in-law, Sita Devi, Santa Devi and others. One day Rabindranath delivered a lecture on Co-operative before the students to make them conversant with the idea. The elderly one listened to the lecture attentively but the youngers fell asleep.
Rabindranath wanted to change the name from Rabidada to be called by Ranu and proposed her the name Bhanu Dada, he wrote to Ranu on 23rd Sept;
" You have asked me whether you can call me by a separate name other than Rabidada. The name 'Bhanu' though not pleasant to listen, yet this name was adopted by me. Moreover it had a separate advantage -- it had got poetic appeal with 'Ranu'. Ek je chila Ranu / Tar dada chila Bhanu." The proposal was liked by Ranu, she wrote in reply;
" I imagined your name as Kabidada to be replaced for Rabidada. Still Bhanu is also good. Though a little fatty. But I like it very much. Moreover, there is none who calls you Bhanu Dada and it has  rhythmic appel with Ranu. For this I like it much."
Ranu made the name Bhanudada as her monopoly and she addressed in the next letter , " Adarer Bhanudada".