"We reached Bombay in the morning at 8.30 am. and got a beautiful Hotel with two rooms. My eyes are going to be closed by the sweet breeze coming from the sea which I can see from my window. The ship will start from this place to Europe at noon on the next day."
Rabindranath boarded this hotel , Watson's Hotel, after returning from his 2nd tour from England. He stayed in the Bombay city for about a month when he wanted to go to England for the 1st time for his higher education. So Bombay was well known to him. But at this matured age while he went for a walk in the afternoon
He found some peculiarity which was different from Calcutta. Among these were, in the seashore or in the park, the open intimacy between the boys and girls.
He wrote, it could be visualised after coming over here that the dismal scenery of the female -less Calcutta was far backward that of the scenery at Bombay. We were habituated with intimate relation with a famale at the remote corner of our house but that relation could not be complete. Could we not meet outside our house in this vast world for a single day. For this reason he was attracted to the female of Brahmo Samaj because of the speciality of their simple and unhesitating acquaintance.
In this context he wrote to Somendra Chandra;
" I was out for a walk at the sea-coast of Bombay city. Hundreds of males and females of Persian, Marathees, Gujrattees, with varried dress had come out in the evening..." By the way, Gurudev said,"but Bengalees , in this respect, were void of their best half. The strength of female was dormant in Bengal. In the modern age the strength of the female is essential or the nation would be half dead......"
In the morning of 27th May Rabindranath wrote a small essay "Bombay Sahar" and sent it to Ajit Kumar narrating his experience in this year in Bombay City and added that he had to send it by bearing mail because there was no scope of sending it by Registry...Within a hour the ship would start. On the same day he wrote to Hemalata Devi that they had to go to the port within a hour and physically they were all alright.His daughter-in-law ( Pratima) was also in a good mood and nothing to speak of Soumendra whi was making the journey a pleasant one. The sea seemed to be calm and quiet and the journey might be very nice. The name of the ship was City of Glassgow. It belonged to The Ellarman Lines Ltd/City Lines/George Smith & Sons Company.
