Rabindranath reached Shantiniketan along with his children and son-in-law.(Satyendranath Bhattcharya, husband of Renuka)When Mrinalini became bedridden, her Pisima (aunt from father's side), Rajlakshmi, came to Calcutta to see her. Rajlakshmi had strong affection for Mrinalini. One day Mrinalini told Rajlakshmi that she was bedridden so her children were in great difficulties. There was none to look after them. She asked that if she (Rajlakshmi) took the responsibility of looking after them, she would be tension free.Pisima kept her request. From that day she remained with them to look after the children of Mrinalini.
After the death of Mrinalini, Rajlakshmi came to Shantiniketan with Rabindranath and began to manage the household affairs in there..From that time she became a member of Rabindranath's family.Mira and Shamindranath were then a mere child.
Mira Devi while in Shantiniketan wrote from her memory about Mrinalini that she used to cook with a cooking stove in the thin slice of verandah and aunt Rajlakshmi used to help her by making pieces of the vegetables.They used to gossip at that time also.
She could remember another story. A table lamp on the open balcony of the first floor of the building at Shantiniketan was glowing, An English novel was in the hand of her mother, Mrinalini, who used to make her grand mother, Rajlakshmi, listen the transltaed version of the book in that light.
Rabindranath was not only busy in writing poems for 'Smaran' Kabya Granatha, he was also busy in managing the school affairs which was disturbed during his absence.Formerly he formed a Teachers' Council with Manoranjan Bandyopadhyay, Jagadananda Roy, and Subodh Chandra Majumdar and Kunjalal Ghosh who was made the working Secretary. Rabindranath also handed over a set of rules and regulations prepared by him handed over to them for smooth running the school. He expected more sincerity from the teachers to implement his ideal but they kept themselves busy in making contradictions with some triffling matters. For shortage fund the students were charged with Rs. 15/- only for fooding and lodging but the parents did not show any liberal attitude which Rabindranath wrote to Akshoy Chandra Sarker in a letter as follows;
" I am sorry to learn that you have deducted the amount of tuition fees for which Achyut remained absent from the school. This is not even permitted with the rules and regulations of any school. Moreover, you know that this school is not money earning institution to me. I spent more than the school can collect as fees and donations.So I must follow, strictly, the rules of the school once formulated. I inform you the following rules we are following and there is no exception.
Each student has to pay his tuition fee for every month within 10th of the respective month failing which a fine of 1 ana will be charged per day.. If within 15th of the next month the fee with fine was not paid, the name of the student will be struck off from the roles and will be sent back to his house. Fees for vacation is also to be paid."
Rabindranath had some experience in managing his zamindary estate but that did not help him in conducting the school. He abolished the Teachers Council and made Satyendranah, his son in law, the principal of the school. He wrote letter informing his present decision to Manoranjan Bandyopadhyay requesting to inform every body to obey Satyendranath so that the school might run smoothly.
But that experiment also failed due to the mal-functioning on the part of Satyendranath who was not having any work culture and Rabindranath had to take other means.
