Rabindranath was of the opinion that Jagadananda Roy was not fit to look after the zamindari work at Shelaidah and appointed him as a teacher in Shantiniketan. He was ready to devote his life to this work and had a deep sympathy for the students. He could not bear the sorrow of a student even when he was punished. Rathindranath mentioned how he could explain difficult science topics in a simple manner in the form of a story. From Rathindranath one gets many important information about Shantiniketan. He wrote about Rebachand that he was an honest person and could teach English well but was strict in his attitude. He insisted on rules and regulations very strictly. He was a very good cricket player. He wanted to introduce the rules of cricket games in all affairs though Rabindranath did not like it.
The life of Brahmacharyashram without any amenities was very hard. The building proposed by Balendranath and constructed later on was the only accomodations for teachers, students and for holding classes. That one-storied building was divided into three portions. One portion was meant for teacher's residence, the second portion was for the class-rooms and the third portion was kept as a students' hostel.
Early in the morning at fifteen minutes past five, students had to get up from their bed and complete their ablutions. Since there was no sanitory toilet they had to go to the 'Bhubandanga Dam' to answer nature's call which was popularly known as "Math kara". Even today this business is termed as 'Math kara'. They used to finish their morning bath in the Bhubandanga Dam. At that time there was classifiaction of dress among the students of different castes. For Brahmins, the colour of the dress was white, for Baidya or Kayastha, it was red and for lower castes, it was yellow. They had to put on a long apron over their normal dress. After a few days, the sartorial distinction of castes was removed and everybody used deep orange (gerua) coloured aprons. Rathindranath wrote that this system was advantageous to them as they could use dirty or torn clothes under their aprons. Wearing their dress, they took their seat under the trees. Each one had to sit under a separate tree for their prayers. They had to utter sacred text in sanskrit. Then they used to take their breakfast with Haluya made up from suji. Half an hour was alloted for exercise when they dug earth before the mass-prayer at which when both students and teachers would participate. Then they started their classes.
At 10 a.m., after the study hour, there was time for play as you like, singing with the harmonium or for reading. At half past 11, a vegetarian lunch was served. Only the Brahmin boys used to sit in a separate line. At half past 12, the study hour resumed and continued upto half past four with a 15 minutes break at 3 p.m.
Then came the games hour. Rathindranath wrote that as football was less costly, it was loved by all and played by all. Once the Maharaja of Nator gifted enough playing materials to the boys but everyone wanted to play football. At half past 6, the evening prayer started. At 9 p.m., after dinner, everybody went to sleep. At half past 6 in the evening, Rabindranath used to meet the boys when he remained in Shantiniketan. This was the daily routine of the boys of Shantiniketan where Rathindranath amongst others was being brought up.
