Rabindranath towards youth by Pushpita

Yes, he IS relevant even today.


“Age considers; youth ventures”. These words were spoken by none other than Rabindranath Tagore, nearly 100 years ago. His undying faith and confidence in the youth has made him relevant to young minds even 150 years after his time.

Despite his ancient appearance with his flowing white beard and hair, Tagore’s outlook and opinions were jarringly modern. He religiously believed in the saying “Today’s youth is tomorrow’s future”, and devoted much of his life to educate, culture and inspire the young minds of his generation for the benefit of the country and in turn, the world. However, his efforts didn’t stop at his own generation alone – he went on to preserve his teachings in something more permanent than spoken words – written words.

In April 1905, Tagore was invited by the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad (a major literary association in Bengal) to address the college graduates of Kolkata. The lecture has been preserved in a collection of his works under the theme of “Self-Strength”. In his lecture, he strongly expressed his views and feelings towards the education of the younger generation.

At this time, India was still under the British Raj. In his lecture Tagore awakened the young in Bengal to a significant truth. He said that under the influence of the English, our society had reached the extent where we considered our native culture to be secondary. India had lost its self-pride, and those who excelled in literature were compared to literary phenomena in Britain, rather than in Bengal – as though we didn’t have any rich culture ourselves. Michael Madhusudhan Datta was titled “The Milton of Bengal” and Bankim Chatterjee “Walter Scott of Bengal”. This fashion extended even to theatre, where an Indian actor had to be compared to Garrick in praise, despite Indian theatre having passed an era by the time Garrick came along. This lack of faith in our own culture resulted in a total lack of authenticity in thought. Today we are beginning to realise the meaning of this, as Bengali bands incorporate our native folk genres into their music to strengthen it and give it authenticity.

Tagore wanted to tell us that education must reach beyond the covers of a book – It must include practical resources to make education stable. What use is there in learning the history of a country if you are not able to encounter it by visiting the country? Likewise, what use is living in a country of whose history we are totally ignorant? This was the situation at that time – students memorised volumes of British history while remaining miserably ignorant of the history of their own land. Furthermore, education must include the awareness to enhance one’s own society or the education is fruitless. Once again, this is highly relevant in this century as well. Those with capability grow up with the aim of settling abroad. The thought of helping our own nation barely passes our minds.

This patriotism that was so deeply ingrained in his mind was spread amongst the youth through several of his poems, essays and plays. One particular dance drama, “Tasher Desh” (The Land of Cards), satirised the strict meaningless rules of the British. The play shows the journey of an adventurous prince and his friend to a land governed by meaningless rules. These Cards had never heard of the idea of ‘free will’. The protagonist represented the free-spirited youth, while the Cards, the antagonists, symbolised the rigid British. On another level, we can also see the cards as the stagnant orthodox generation. The dance drama is still widely performed in Bengal as well as abroad, and is openly enjoyed by the young and the old alike.

We often hear the words “In our days...” escape the mouths of the elderly. Rabindranath Tagore was vehemently against this approach. “These elderly people often criticise this age by comparing it to benefits of their own age. They have come to the ends of their journeys and are now simply calculating their advantages. They seem to forget that today’s young are also starting their journeys, full of hope and have decades left before they sit down to calculate! Each generation has its own advantages and disadvantages. The youth should be inspired to live life to the fullest...” he said in his lecture in 1905.

Tagore’s support towards the young has been reflected at its peak in his poem “Shobujer Abhijan” (The Adventure of the Green). In the poem, he has personified the new green plants of spring to be the youth and he calls out to them to break the idleness and monotony of the ancients who have fallen asleep.

“Youth of all ages, you are immortal. Shake off the old and diseased, unleash your endless spirit.”

Like in these lines, Tagore has immortalised youth. His significance will remain undiminished in the young minds for all the ages to come.

Posted by Pushpita at 9:34 PM 0 comments

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Pushpita Bhattacharya writes in her own blog http://writranrig.blogspot.com/.

School at shantiniketan (cont-11)

Rathindranath would sit for Matriculation examination that year. His test examination was coming very close. Rabindranath's mind was full of different thoughts. He was thinking about Rathi's test examination. In the puja vacation a few teachers went home but did not return after the vacation, he was worried about that. Some new teachers were appointed and they had to be initiated properly in work, he was concerned about that. He remained absent in the school for a long while and could not conduct the school, and that was another source of worry.
Rabindranath Singh was arranging for puja of mother Kali. He wanted Rathi and Prem(ananda) to come to see the puja. But Rabindranath did not want Rathi to waste any more time away from his study. Rabindranath was concerned about Subodh Chandra Majumdar not turning up after the puja vacation. This time he was advised to take care of the teaching of geography. He hoped that Rathi's lessons were going alright. Narendranath Bhattacharya was teaching geometry but there was no one to guide him in Algebra and Arithmetic. Rabindranath said that he was not sure when he would be able to go to Bolpur. Dr. Kali Prasanna Lahiri was asking for leave. But in his absence, this was not possible.
Jagadananda Roy was suffering from intermittent fever. Subodh was held up by his daughter's illness. With all these concerns, he was not in favour of closing the school during Puja. The sanskrit teacher after many requests went home to fetch his relatives.

Last days of Mrinalini and Renuka (contd-1)

Day by day, Mrinalini was getting worse. Rathindranath wrote that on the day before the death of his mother,  his father called him to his mother's room and asked him to sit by her bedside.
She had lost her voice by that time. Rathi saw his mother for the last time and tears silently trickled down her eyes. His father asked all his sisters and brothers to go to the second floor for the night. An unknown anxiety haunted them throughout the night and they passed a  sleepless night. Early in the morning, they tried to see the red-coloured building from the verandah. The whole house was covered in darkness and there was a pin-drop-silence. No sign of life was visible. They felt from the core of their heart that their mother was no more. She had been taken away to burning ghat.
It was unbelievable that even the eldest son Rathi was not allowed to go with his mother's dead body.
Mrinalini Devi was married at the age ten, on 9 December 1883 when Rabindranath was 22. She was married for 19 years less 17 days when she died at the age of 29 years.
Hemalata Devi (second wife of Dipendranath, son of Dwijendanath) narrated the story after the death of her aunt-in-law. In the next night her husband (Dipendranath) came and said that their aunt had died. Uncle (Rabindranath) went to the roof alone and asked to be alone. It was learnt that the poet passed the whole night walking about the roof. His father Maharshidev was still alive . On hearing the news of the death of his son's wife, he said that he did not worry about Rabi, who would go on with his writings and readings. He felt sorry for the young children.
On the next day many people came to condole the sad demise. Rathindranath described that his father replied patiently to every body calmly and controlled himself with great difficulty. When every body went away, Rabindranath called Rathi and offered him the slipper which his mother put on regularly and asked him to keep that with him and then he silently went to his room.   

Last days of Mrinalini and Renuka

In October 1902, Mrinalini's illness took a serious turn. At the same time, Renuka's illness was also added to their anxieties. A few days later, Rabindranath wrote to Monaranjan Bandyopadhyay that he was deeply absorbed in dealing with the ailments of his family members. "My wife's illness shows no sign of improvement. Renuka got a sore throat and Mira was attacked with fever from last night."  Renuka's sore throat turned out to be a symptom of tuberculosis. Detection of the disease was a bit late.The antibiotic for the disease had not been invented at that time.

Renuka's health was not good from her childhood. She looked sick amongst the others-- this is visible from her photographs. She was very obstinate. She did not like to dress well. Her youngest sister, Mira, wrote that all the girls were not meant for going through family life. Ranidi was of that type. It would have been better if her father did not arrange for her marriage at such an young age. She read books most of the time. She did not pass her time gossiping.

Satyababu, with whom she was married, had been sent abroad for study by Rabindranath but he came back home unsuccessful and was ciritcised by the women in the family. This gave her a great shock. Renuka suffered from fever for a few days in silence. Mira thought that her sister may not have wanted to live: but she was, at that time, only 9 years old and she may not have got the story right.

Within a few days, Mrinalini became worse. Bedpan, stomach tube and other accessories were brought for her. Dr. D. N. Chattopadhyay (Alopath), Dr. J. N. Majumdar and Dr. D. N. Roy (both Homeopath) were coming frequently. Rathindranath wrote that the Alopath Doctors could not diagonise the disease due to which  his father consulted Homeopath Doctors. They were all respectful to his father and gave him the same rank in Homeopathy as they possessed.  They used to prescribe medicine in consultation with his father.  But all their attempts were fruitless.   Indira Devi and some others complained that the result might have been different if there had been a change of doctors.

The dying bed of Mrinalini was arranged on the first floor of Rabindranath's own  red building. The room was a long one and made into three by a partition with two almirahs. In one room, Mira and others lived. Mrinalini was kept in the roomof the last corner towards the west so that she could stay there peacefully. In front stood a tall building in which Gaganendranath lived, and the room was dark and had little ventilation. There was no electric fan. Nobody could say whether Mrinalini suffered more in these conditions. Mira came to learn from her elder aunt (wife of Dwijendranath) that Rabindranath fanned his wife whole night with a palmtree made fan, simply sitting by her side.

Hemalata Devi also wrote that for about two months Mrinalini was bed-ridden. The poet did not rely on paid nurses. It might be noted here that a paid nurse and an attendant were appointed at the last stage of her ailment. Considering the seriousness of Mrinalini's disease, Rabindranath's childrens were brought from Shantiniketan to Jorasanko.     

   

Shantiniketan (contd-10)

The school at Shantiniketan was not performing well. This was known from an undated letter written by Rabindranath to Basanta Kumar Gupta. He wrote that he had talks with his father about the school. He was anxious about the guests who wanted stay at Shantiniketan because the school was occupying most of the space on the ground floor and upstairs and Debendranath did not like it. It was decided that very soon more teachers would be coming. Dwipendranath (eldest son of Dwijendranath) would join them soon and he might be annoyed to see the scarcity of accomodation. Dwipendranath was one of the member of the board of trustees of Shantiniketan. But as per convention none in the Tagore family could stay for long with his family in Shantiniketan, which Rabindranath did. There was some unpleasantness with Dwipendranath, which he mentioned in a letter. At first there were indirect references, but after some time he expressed it directly.
For this reason Rabinfranath had to purchase land outside the boundary of the trust's jurisdiction.  

Shantiniketan (contd-9)

Due to some political reason Radhakishore, Maharaja of Tripura, could not get his second son admitted into the school at Shantiniketan but he helped the school financiaally. Rabindranath replied, in a letter, that he had received with thanks the sum of Rs. 50/- and said that he could feel the love and passion he (Radhakishore) had sent along with this small amount. The love and affection which he had bestowed upon him would stored in the deepest corner of his heart. This he remembered not as a gift from one of the king but from a close friend.

TAGORE’S IMMORTAL TIES WITH TRIPURA

Bikach Choudhury

Though lulled to a sequestered life in the backyard of an ancient tribal kingdom, Tripura goes down in the pages of history as a little place almost religiously devoted to fine experiments in arts, crafts and literature. The rulers of this ancient State were not merely patrons of art and culture but a number of them were great exponents in different creative fields. Even the reputed journals of the West mention eloquently their work of art, photography, literature and music. Tripura’s modern era began with Maharaja Birchandra (1862-96) who was a superb painter, an excellent photographer, a great composer of music, a profound scholar of Vaishnav literature and obviously a great connoisseur of all creative activities.

This sagacious ruler created a stir in the literary world by conferring upon young Rabindranath Tagore the honour of the ‘best poet" in 1882. The poet was hardly 21 years old then and he had to his credit only one book of verses - Bhagna Hriday - (The Broken Heart). Birchandra, having read ‘Bhagna Hriday’, was so moved that he immediately sent his minister all the way from Agartala to Jorasanko, home of the Tagores at Calcutta just to convey the message that he discerned in the young poet the promise of a great future. Tagore was taken by surprise.

Tagore very respectfully mentioned the great event in his autobiography Jiban Smriti and paid great tributes to Birchandra on a number of occasions during his sojourns to Tripura.

This was the beginning of an unforgettable tie between the ruling house of an obscure land and a great poet who dominated the literary world. This historic bond lasted for over sixty years till the last days of Tagore. He became the friend, philosopher and guide to the four generations of Tripura rulers.

The elderly Birchandra was quick enough to befriend the young poet. Tagore went to Kurseong twice during 1894 and 1896. On both the occasions he invited Tagore to be his guest of honour and the poet gladly obliged. Those were meetings between two great minds that provided a rare opportunity to both of them to know each other more intimately. Tagore was then hardly thirty-three years old and Birchandra almost double his age. Naturally, the young poet felt shy to open up himself. But in all literary discussions he was treated as an equal. Tagore often recalled the sweet memories of those golden days that he spent together with Birchandra (pic-2) at Kurseong.

Birchandra was quite pained at the ruthless criticism that Tagore’s literary works drew from the critics of that time. He wanted to buy a printing press and invest one lakh rupees, a princely sum in those days, so that decorated editions of Tagore’s works could be published without any hitch from any quarters. But as ill luck would have it, while returning from Kurseong, Birchandra died in Calcutta in 1896. Tagore was naturally very upset. He thought his ties with the Tripura royal family would abruptly come to an end. But it was not be.

There waited more surprises for Rabindranath from this land of eternal love. Birchandra’s worthy son, Radhakishore, lost no time in extending even warmer invitation to Tagore to take his seat of affection in Tripura left void by the death of his illustrious father. Radhakishore ascended the throne in 1897 and died in 1909. During these twelve years, Tagore visited Tripura as many as five times. On innumerable occasions, Radhakishore sought Tagore’s help in rescuing himself from very complicated problems of statecraft which he faced. Tagore’s advice was sought in all matters right from the appointment of ministers, drafting of state budget, framing of code of conduct for the officers of the royal court and general approach towards dealing with erring officials. Leaving aside literature, Tagore lavishly showered his hitherto unknown skills in all these prosaic areas of statecraft. The erstwhile Tripura royal family still preserves the rare historic documents written in Tagore’s own handwriting where he has shown his remarkable ingenuity in matters of public finance, state policy, principle of education and other such matters. Radhakishore virtually became dependent on Tagore in all the areas of day-to-day administration. This naturally irked the officials of the royal court. But Tagore, even at the cost of burning his fingers, did not leave his trusted friend at large.

This short-association of Tagore with Radhakishore(pic-1) had lasting impact on Tripura’s ties with greater Bengal. The benevolent Maharaja contributed liberally in various literary, cultural and scientific endeavors of Bengal. Tagore once approached Radhakishore for financial grant for the scientific research work of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose who was in dire financial state at that time in England. Radhakishore himself was in a very tight financial condition as the palace at Agartala had been struck by a severe earthquake and was to be re-built. besides, the marriage of prince Birendrakishore was on hand. But the ever-generous Radhakishore did not fail to rise to the occasion. He wrote to Tagore that he was prepared to deprive his would-be daughter-in-law from a piece or two of jewelleries for he was sure that in return of that Jagadish Babu would decorate mother India in a much befitting manner. He kept his promise and granted a huge sum of rupees fifty thousand in those days with the only stipulation that his name should not be made public.

Radhakishore also sanctioned an annual grant of Rupees One thousand for Tagore’s Viswa Bharati which was continued for nearly fifty years till the death of the last ruler, Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore.

Radhakishore’s son, Birendra Kishore, also inherited the rare artistic acumen of his grandfather, Birchandra. He was a great painter and a musician, too. Like his forefathers, he extended liberal financial grants to Viswa Bharati. It was during his time that Tripura’s relationship with Tagore acquired a cultural dimension. In 1939, Birchandra’s great-grandson - Maharaj Bir Bikram Kishore, visited Shantiniketan.He deputed Rajkumar Buddhimanta Singh from Tripura as a Manipuri dance teacher at Shantiniketan. Buddhimanta was followed by a number of other talented experts in Manipuri dance from Tripura. They made remarkable contributions in providing the floral foundation of effusive softness, style and grace to Rabindra Nritya.

Following the footsteps of his ancestors, Tripura’s last ruler, Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore, always paid the highest respect to Gurudeb Rabindranath Tagore. It was his privilege to confer on Tagore the honorific title "Bharat Bhaskar" just three months before the death of the great poet. Tagore’s 80th birth anniversary was celebrated at the royal Durbar of Tripura with all solemnity. An emissary was sent to Shantiniketan to formally confer on Tagore this last tribute of Tripura. The ailing poet was so moved by this generous royal gesture that he made no secret of his feelings,"Such a free and disinterested bond of friendship between an immature poet whose fame was yet uncertain and one enjoying royal distinction is unprecedented in the history of any literature. The distinction that this royal family has conferred on me has illumined today the last limits of my life’s span".

During his last visit to Agartala in 1926, while addressing a public meeting Tagore had another occasion to pay his tributes to Tripura. In response to the genuine love showered on him by the Kishore Sahitya Samaj of Agartala, Tagore in his inimitable words said, "Gone too are those days, I had the good fortune to receive great honour; it has been my privilege to receive honour even at the hand of kings in the West. But the tribute I received from a prince of my own country is to me, personally speaking, of much greater value. That is why my relation with this State of Tripura is not just that of a guest for a day. That relation is indeed wedded to the memories of the father and the grandfather of the present king".

Pic-1

Shantiniketan(contd-8) Frequent Changes of Teachers

The school at Shantiniketan was established on 22 December 1901 (7th Paus 1308) with five students and five teachers. Among the teachers there were Brahmabandhab, Rebachand (Brahmachari Animananda), Jagadananda Roy, Sibdhan Bidyarnab, and Laurence.

Brahmabandhab didn't take classes regularly. He frequently went to Calcutta and while he stayed at Shantiniketan he simply adviced Rabindranath on how to enforce discipline in the School. Within 4/5 months, Brahmabandhab resigned and a graduate teacher, Monaranjan Bhattacharya, joined as Headmaster. Rabindranath wrote to Pravat Kumar Mukhopadhyay that within  few days the number of students rose to 12 and for this increase of students extra teachers and increased accomodation became necessary. A boarding house was constructed for the accomodation of students.

As per promise, Rabindranath explained, in an essay, "the early period of Brahmacharyashram" which was published in Aswin issue of 1343 of Prabasi as 'Ashramer Rup O Bikash'. In that essay Rabindranath wrote in a footnote that someone complained to Maharshi Debendranath about the conversion of Brahmabandhab and Rebachand to Christianity. But that was not true. Rabindranath wrote, "I know that one of my relative have done this. But my father replied that he was not afraid because he had founded ' Shantam Shibam Adwaitam' there."   

Of course this foot note did not reveal the reason for the resignation of Upadhyaya and Rebachand from Shantiniketan. The explanation submitted by Kartik Chandra Nan in this repect was more acceptable.

That Maharshi Debendranath and Adibrahmo Samaj were not pleased with the Christians was not a secret. It was quite natural for them to become displeased with the Catholic Brahmbandhab and Rebachand. Prof. Gaur Gobinda Gupta, lecturer for the first batch of students of Shantiniketan, referred to an incident which was very important. "Prof. Mohit Chandra Sen, on an inspection tour to the Shantiniketan, offerred a pictorial Bible to the students of Shantiniketan as a prize. The book,  filled up with bold type of English letters and coloured pictures, was dear to Prof. Gaur Gobinda Babu. On learning this Rebachand was  pleased and explained the meaning of the pictures to Gaur Gobinda. At this, some teachers of the school became curious about the intention of Rebachand. When Brahmabandhab came to learn the whole story, he called back Rebachand and he himself cut off all connections with the School.

It may be mentioned here that Rabindranath was secular and this was known to everybody. The decision taken by Brahmabandhab was due to some other reason. It can be noted here that Sibdhan Bidyarnab, the sanskrit teacher of the School, also left the school within a few days.        

Okakura and Rabindranath (contd-1)

Okakura Kakuzo (1862-1913), popularly known as Okakura Tenshin, was a Japanese scholar who conributed to the development of Arts in Japan. Outside of Japan, he is chiefly remembered today as the author of The Book of Tea.
Okakura, born in Yokohama to parents originally from Fukuri, attended Tokyo Imperial University, where he first met and studied under Ernest Fenollosa. In 1890, Okakura was one of the principal founders of the first Japanese fine-arts academy, Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko ( Tokyo School of Fine Arts) and a year later became the head, though he was later ousted from the school in an administrative struggle. He then founded the Japan Art Institute with Hashimato Gaho and Yokoyama Taikan. He was invited by William Sturgis Bigelow to the Museumof Fine Arts, Boston, in 1904 and became the first head of the Asian art Division in 1910.
Okakura was a high-profile urbanite who had an international sense of self. In the Meiji period he was the first dean of the Tokyo fine Arts School (now The Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music). He wrote all his main works in English. Okakura researched Japan's Traditional art and travelled to Europe, The Unites States, China, and India. He gave the world an image of Japan as a member of the east, in the face of a massive onslaught of western culture. His book, The Ideals of the East (1904), published on the eve of the  Russo-Japanese war, is famous for its opening line, "Asia is one".  He argued that Asia is "one" in its humiliation, of falling behind in achieving modernisation, and thus being colonized by the western powers. This was an early expressionof Pan-Asianism. Later Okakura felt compelled to protest against a Japan that tried to catch up with the Western powers, but by sacrificing other Asian countries as in the Russo-Japanese War.
For visitors who stroll the many vaulted rooms and corridors, admiring the varied collection of Boston's museum of Fine Arts, there is a special treat for the senses, unlike anything else the museum offers: Tenshin-En, a 10,000-square-foot Japanese rock garden.
More than 70-species of plants - both Japanese and American - give color and texture to thegarden .
Okakura's father was silk trader. In his father's shop Okakura must have had his first contacts with western people.   

Okakura (Japanese) and Rabindranath

On 16th April 1902, Rabindranath wrote to Jagadish Chandra Bose that Nivedita had introduced him to a Japanese scholar, Okakura Kakuzo.  He had thus gained a friend. He came of a renowned family, namely Samurai. From his very child he had deep interest in art and culture.As a member of Imperial Art Commission of Japan, he visited Europe and America in 1886. He was made Pricipal in New Art School in Tokyo when he came back from his tour. Due to some presure to follow the European style in that school, he resigned and founded a new Institution, 'Hall of Fine Arts' (Bijitsu-in) in 1897, with some of his students. He had enormous influence as a member of the Head of Imperial Archeological Commission. Okakura met Miss Maclaud, one of the follower of Swami Vevekananda, who published the famous book of Okakura, namely Ideals of the East. The main subject of this book was to expand the influence of India in describing Eastern Culture to the whole world.

Many important persons of Japan were eager to bring Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu Monk,  to Japan since he fostered the prestige of Asia in Europe and America. As a token conveyance fare he sent Rs. 300 for bringing Swamiji to Japan in June 1901. But it was not possible for him to go due tohis broken health and the immediate responsibilities of the Math.  Along with the young devotee, Harisun and Miss Maclaud, Okakura after a long tour of different places came to see Swami Vivekananda at Belur Math on 6 January 1902. Okakura was introduced to Nivedita some time in March 1902.

Mrs. Oli Bul arranged a party at American Consulate in honour of Okakura. In this party, at the initiative of Nivedita, Surendranath Thakur got acquianted with Okakura and became his follower. After a long time, in August 1936, Surendranath described this incident in journal, The Viswabharati Quarterly. But due to political reason he suppressed many facts there. As a result, the story of Rabindranath and Okakura remained unpublished. This incident was unearthed by Abanindranath subsequently.

Rabindranath invited Okakura to Shantiniketan and he also accepted the invitation. The friendship between Rabindranath and Okakura was deep and lasting. At the request of Srish Chandra Majumdar, Rabindranath acquisitioned a piece of land in Bodhgaya for Okakura and met him in Boston, USA, in 1913.  He stayed in Okakura's house when he went to Japan. Rabindranath offered flowers to the memory of Okakura in Japan..        

Renuka (contd-1)

Rabindranath and his daughter, Renuka, stayed for some time in Hazaribagh. He began to write 'Noukadubi' for Bangadarshan, serialised from April 1903. Renuka's health, however, did not improve. It was decided that they would go to Almorah.
It was difficult to go to Almorah from Hazaribagh via Giridi with an ailing daughter. On reaching there, he wrote to Priyanath Sen that he was sailing amidst thunder and cloud, uncertain how to drop anchor. Amongst his children each one was moving in a different direction; his school was moving in another and he was going with his ancient disease in a separate direction. He was restless.
Before going to Almorah he kept Mira and Shamindra, the youngest daughter and the youngest son with Gnanadanandini, wife of Satyendranath. Rathi remained at the boarding in Shantiniketan and Bela was at her in-laws' home.
Despite the sorrow and the suffering Rabindranath's mind remained active. In 1896, he published his first Kabyagrantha, Kadi O Komal. He wanted to republish them organised in order to the subject matter and in the chronology of evolution of thought. Mohit Chandra Sen had taken the responsibility for publishing the books from Majumdar Library. In Almorah, about to publish the Shishu kabyagrantha he found the collection incomplete. He wrote another 30 poems to complete the volume.
More than three months they stayed in Almorah but no sign of improvement was visible. Renuka then insisted on returning to Calcutta. She might have understood that her days were numbered. Within a few days after coming back to Calcutta, Renuka expired and it was within three months that his wife and his second daughter died.   

( Vol IV) Renuka died within 10 months of her mother's death

Rabindranath had imagined that he would establish his family in Santiniketan. But Man proposes and God disposes. Rabindranath's wife, Mrinalini, fell seriously ill there in 1902. She was brought to Calcutta when Rabindranth's mind was pre-occupied with thoughts of his school at Shantiniketan and with recent Indian politics. The Governor Lord Curzon, after the death of the Queen Victoria, convened a meeting at Delhi. Rabindranath wrote an essay, Atyukti ( Exaggeration). The essay was a reply to the lecture delivered by Curzon in the convocation of Calcutta University where he mentioned that exaggeration was a peculiarity of the East. In such a situation, Rabindranath had to stay far away from his school. He had to prepare a constitution for the School which  had been converted to an University, Viswabharati University. meanwhile, Mrinalini was gradually getting worse. She brought her second son-in-law from America because he had to complete 'Phool Sajya'  (second marriage) after Renuka attained her womanhood and she wanted to see the occasion with her own eyes.
Mrinalini died on 23 December 1902, just after 11 months of the inauguration of Santiniketan. At the time of her death, Mrinalini was 30 years old and Rabindranath was 41. His eldest son Rathindra was 14, preparing for  his Entrance Examination, and Mira, the youngest daughter,  was 10 years old, the youngest son, Shamindra was 8.
Rabindranath wrote many poems as a  commemorative piece after the death of his wife, which he called  'Smaran'. He also wrote 'Utsarga' where he expressed his deep agony. In his life he had to overcome many sorrows but nothing could obstruct his creative activity. Rani, his second daughter, was suffering for some time. At first it appeared as an infection of the throat. But after some time it was diagonised as TB. Rabindranath, after the death of his wife, brought his children again at Santiniketan. But Rani (Renuka)gradualy got worse. The physician advised her to have a change of climate. Rabindranath took her to Hazaribagh. But it was a very difficult route at that time. One had to go to Hazaribagh via Giridi in a palanquin known as push-push. Once many days ago he had been there as a tourist. This time he was going with his daughter with heavy heart.