In childhood Rabindranath had two friends- Satyaprasad, slightly older and the sister of Satyaprasad, Ira (Irabati, 1861-1918), son and daughter of Soudamini, the eldest daughter of Devendranath- both of them always fuelled his imagination by telling peculiar tales about Thakurbari.
After the birth of the youngest child (Budhendranath), who died at the age of one, Sarada Devi's health broke down and she could devote even less time to her children. Other senior women of the family, elder sisters and sisters-in-law, were also very busy with their respective duties. Rabindranath Tagore had to pass most of his time with a 'retinue' of servants and maid-servants from morning till night before going to sleep. He was not allowed to move around even within the house. He had no ideas about the different rooms, corridors within the building. Only his imagination and the stories told by his two companions gave him what he called 'pictures of life's memories rather than life's history'. This he termed 'servocracy'. 'One of the servants would place him at a certain strategic point and draw a circle round him', warning him of dire consequences if he crossed the border line. They always used to tell the story of the Ramayana, reminding him of the punishment that Sita received by crossing the line. The boy stayed well within the circle, imagining the worst possible perils if he disobeyed. There was a pond beneath the window. On the east side of the pond, by the side of the wall, stood a big banyan tree (Rabindranath wrote a poem on this Banyan tree, Purono Bat) and on the south there were rows of coconut trees. As a child Rabindranath used to pass his time looking at all these like 'Amal of Dakghar'.
After the birth of the youngest child (Budhendranath), who died at the age of one, Sarada Devi's health broke down and she could devote even less time to her children. Other senior women of the family, elder sisters and sisters-in-law, were also very busy with their respective duties. Rabindranath Tagore had to pass most of his time with a 'retinue' of servants and maid-servants from morning till night before going to sleep. He was not allowed to move around even within the house. He had no ideas about the different rooms, corridors within the building. Only his imagination and the stories told by his two companions gave him what he called 'pictures of life's memories rather than life's history'. This he termed 'servocracy'. 'One of the servants would place him at a certain strategic point and draw a circle round him', warning him of dire consequences if he crossed the border line. They always used to tell the story of the Ramayana, reminding him of the punishment that Sita received by crossing the line. The boy stayed well within the circle, imagining the worst possible perils if he disobeyed. There was a pond beneath the window. On the east side of the pond, by the side of the wall, stood a big banyan tree (Rabindranath wrote a poem on this Banyan tree, Purono Bat) and on the south there were rows of coconut trees. As a child Rabindranath used to pass his time looking at all these like 'Amal of Dakghar'.
