Rabindranath again at Silaidah (contd-1)

After coming at Silaidah Rabindranath became sorry to see the disaster of his tenants. At this context he met the tenants after many days. He had already formed Hitaishi Mandali (Welfare Society) of the farmers of Berhampore and Kaligram Pargana. He deposited in Rural bank the major amount of the money received from his Nobel prize  for the benefit  of the poor farmers. He had no link directly with these people for many days. He got the opportunity after coming at Silaidah and wrote to Andrews on 23rd July,
" After long years I have come among my tenants ; and I feel, and they also, that my presence was needed. It was a great event of my life when I first dwelt among my own people here, for thus I came into contact with the reality of life.For in them you feel the barest touch of humanity...I must confess that I have been neglecting these people, while I was away from them in Santiniketan, and I am glad that I am now with them once more so that I may be more actively mindful in their vsctivities. My life at the Asram was at last making me into a teacher, which was unsatisfactory for me, because unnatural . But one has to be a helper to be real man ; for then you share your life with your fellow-beings and not merely your ideas."
While he was living at Silaidah, he was eager to apply scientific knowledge in farming. Afterwards he sent his son Rathindra and son-in-law Nagendra to America for learning  Agricultural Science so as to apply it in farming here. He knew the application of science in farming.
" We all hope that here, at this very point, Science in the end will help man.She will make the necessities of life easily accessible to every man, so that humanity will be freed from tyranny of matter which now humiliates her."
A few days ago he gave a speech in in the meeting of Hitasadhan Mandali asking the youth to serve for the welfare of the villages.After some time some youth namely, Atul Chandra Sen, Upendra Bhadra and Bisweswar Basu gave a response to his call. He once again jumped into the field of work.                 

Rabindranath again at Silaidah

Rabindranath started for Silaidah by mid-day train on 13 July. Dr. Dwijendra Moitra wrote;
" I went to the railway station with him and at this very hour, yesterday, was taking leave of the poet at Sealdah station. Only I accompanied him  & he travelled alone to his zamindari by the 12.40 a.m. train."
On visiting the pathetic condition of his tenants, he wrote to Andrews;
"But since I came here I find this year is not going to be a prosperous one for us especially as there has been a further prohibition in the Jute exportation. Last year the rent we realised was small and it was largely supplemented by borrowed money.    So this year our capacity for raising loans will be limited, so I must not launch myself into an expensive schemes of travels till I have a better prospect before me than now."
He informed the same thing to Rathindranath and to Rothenstein on 18th July and 22 July respectively. He was free here as there was no tediousness of Brahmacharyasram or busy hours like Calcutta and wrote to Andrews;
" In the meanwhile I am floating my dreams, as the children do their paper boats, on this wide expanse of green, gold and blue."
he wrote to Rathindranath;
"I have come back to my true existence after many days coming in contact with the green grass and solitary atmosphere -- I wish to stay here for long. I am in need of care of nature's own hand in a lonely place -- for that my mind gradually became restless of coming to a distant place by cutting all earthly relations of life and family. For this the proposal of going to Japan or to any unknown place for searching peace of my mind was an urgent  necessity to my mind.I have passed the age of struggle of my family life -- now I have fulfil my ambition before I expire."
He has given up the idea of going to Japan and can settle his mind on another subject and wrote to Rathindranath ;
" I need some books if I had to stay at Silaidah for some time -- I brought very few books this time when I came over here." Books he had brought mainly on subjects based on problems of life..He wrote to Rathin on 20th July ;
" I am returning back two books, "Unconscious memory" and "Haldane's Life and personality'. The books of Halden belongs to Pramatha. You may read it --you will ger enjoyment." The books he wanted to send him are, Viscount Haldane's The pathway to reality--2 vols", The Interpretation of Radium -- by Frederick Soddy, and Recent advances in the study of Variation, Heredity and Evolution by Robert H. Lock.".

Robert Bridges and Rabindranath (contd-5)

The poem 67 of Gitanjali

The poem of Gitanjali of Rabindrantath no.67, was much fascinating to Bridges, that was why he thought that his anthology would remain incomplete in absence of this poem. Even he wrote to Sir Frederick on 22nd July;
"Meanwhile my book is going to press and if at the last moment I find the poem prohibited, it can be deleted and a blank space left where it shd be."
Sir Frederick Grant Banting, KBE, MC, FRS, FRSC (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941) was a Canadian medical scientist, doctor and Nobel laureate noted as one of the main discoverers of insulin)
But Bridges was an obstinate person who became excited at the 'impertenence' of Rabindranath and wrote to Rothenstein;
" Tagore showed such evident reluctance that when I read his letter  I determined to let him have his way, but I thought  I wd give myself another chance."
The other characters of the above story became annoyed with Rabindranath because he made the way of Andrews to poke his nose into the said incidence. After the recovery from Cholera at Simla, Andrews wrote to Rothenstein;
" I wanted so much to tell you not to trouble in the slightest any more about the Ridges incident. It all passed over like a summer cloud & the sun was shining again... There was nothing  -- here  never had been anything -- in the poet's mind .. concerning you, or concerning the action you took. That was only amusement with him."
Having read this letter, Rothenstein became displeased and  expressed his irritation in the letter written to Rabindtranath on 28th Jul. which was more intense in the letter written to Bridges;

" [Tagore] is I think under the influence of an English Missionary, sweet and and well meaning enough, but without any sense of literature and very little of the masculine side of life. He flatters the sentimental side of Tagore, and does not understand the more natural and humorous side of his nature  -- the best side, in fact."

Though he had written the letter in excitement but he tried to analyse the character of Andrews and without mentioning the name of Andrews he wrote a letter to another Missionary Edward Thompson;

"[ Tagore] has been  the mischief-maker."

Bridges also ridiculed Andrews in the letter written to Rothenstein on 28th Sep;

" I have no scruple in doing a good service to Tagore st h is will - or perhaps against Mr. Andrews."

Prof. Sourindra Mitra had written in detail the correspondence in this episode.     

Robert Bridges and Rabindranath (contd-4)

After receiving the letter dated 31.8.2015 from Yeats, Rabindranath had no other alternative than to write to Macmillan;
" I am just in receipt of a letter from Yeats, strongly recommending me to allow Dr. Bridges to use in his anthology the Gitanjali poem with the alterations. As I feeI cannot refuse Yeats . I shall be happy if you see your way to granting his request and send your permission to Dr. Bridges."
Rabindranath had allowed Bridges to use, as per his request, one poem from Gitanjali, but on the basis of this allowance he used another two poems from Gitanjali and nine instead of eight poems of Kabir in his anthology and edited them outright before his publication in 1916.About Kabir he wrote in his footnote ;
"I thank Messrs. Macmillan for permission to use this book, with liberty to make the slight changes which for the sake of diction or rhythm I wished ro introduce. No changes was made without reference to the original, of which there was fortunately a copy in private hands in Oxford: the text not being accessible in the British Museum or Bodleian  Libraries."
He wrote about no.67 and other poems of Gitanjali,
" These are his own prose translations into English of his original Bengali poems. I have to thank him and his English publisher for allowing me to quote from his book, and in the particular instance of this very beautiful poem, for the author's friendliness in permitting me to shift a few words for the sake of what I considered more effective in rhythm and grammar."

He expressed his gratitude to Suhrawardi also in the context of translation of the poems of Baba Taheer.
(Baba Tahir, (var. Baba Taher, in Persian: بابا طاهر) was an 11th century poet in Persian literature and mystic.He wrote poems in the Pahlavi Persian language.)

" In all my Oriental quotations I owe everything to my friend Hasan Sahid Suhrawardy for putting his taste and wide learning at my  disposal. The choice of this and of some other pieces is due to him, and I worked on his admirable English translations under his guidance, having myself no knowledge of any oriental language."

The story did not end here. 

Robert Bridges and Rabindranath (contd- 3)

Sir Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st Baronet FRS (14 March 1844 – 16 September 1916) was a Scottish physician who is most-closely associated with the use of amyl nitrite to treat angina pectoris.
Bridges handed over the responsibility of tasting Macmillan in the hands of his publisher Longmans green & Co and Sir Lauder Brunton. but Macmillan emphatically said that they have no objection but the 'the extracts must be given in the language of Tagore himself and they have no reservation about the translation of Kabir's poems ' provided that no references to Tagore & Underhill are included in the book.
But Bridges did not become hopeless and wrote on 8 Jun, " I am sure that a conversation between us wd  clear up the difficulties.' and he played another tricks, directly or indirectly,  he tried to defame the translation of Rabindranath without mentioning any name.Before commenting this he wrote to Rothenstein on 19 Apr., " I have herd [Sir Walter] Raleigh run it down in his public lectures " and in the same letter wrote to Macmillan ; "Moreover his English versions are received in this country with the apology that they are only translations and are accepted with this allowance" . He also demonstrated to some of his friend his alterations with Rabindranath's translation , to show his superiority.
Rabindramath came to learn, from the letter written by Rothenstein on 12th May,  that the Macmillan did not accept  Bridges' proposal -- he wrote to Bridges freely on ,"  I am sorry to find that my publishers did not see their way to grant you permission to include in your anthology the Gitanjali poems in its altered form. My hesitation is chiefly owing to my sentiment of gratitude to Yeats who edited these forms and I feel it would be showing want of loyalty to him if I allowed any alterations in any of them. At least I ought to be quite certain that he approves of it."Andrews first raised the name of Yeats on 5 April in the letter written to Rothenstein. Rothenstein informed this to Bridges and wrote to Rabindranath on 30th April; "I have written him that since Yeats went over the original translations, you naturally feel it would appear ungracious to him to allow any other hand to touch what he has passed & in some measure himself perfected & he is apparently not able himself to agree. " At this Bridges contacted Yeats immediately.  To maintain the glory of the court-poet Yeats forgot his previous stand and wrote Rabindranath, "He [ Bridges] tells me now that Macmillan has showed him a letter from you refusing, lest I should be offended to allow him to make those changes... I should be sorry to prevent Robert Bridges from making the slight changes he wishes." And then certifying Bridges like Rothenstein  he added, " He is at moments a most admirable poet and always the chief scholar [sic] in English style now living ... I have the same mother tongue as he has, but I would be grateful should he care to revise a poem of mine and certainly I would be ashamed if consideration for my revision should keep you from accepting his."
Before receiving this letter, Rabindranath wrote to Macmillan on 13th Aug,
"If my instinct is right then I think the version of translation that are already before the public should never be published in altered forms --otherwise they would loss all idea of finality and many a reader's mind would be exercised in trying to improve them." After a few days, on 19th Aug, he wrote the same thing in detail to Bridges,
"I think there is a stage in all writings where they must have a finality in spite of their shortcomings. Authors have their limitations and we have to put up with them if they give us something positively good. If we begin to think of improvement there is no end to it and differences of opinion are sure to arise."
Citing a portion of the letter, he proposed to Rothenstein on 20th Aug,
" Why doesn't Dr. Bridges try to translate some of my poems directly from the original with the help of his Bengali friends in Oxford."

He wrote these to Macmillan on 13th Aug.

In fact, Bridges, himself, informed Macmillan that he had contacted Shaheed Suhrawardi, the famous orientalist. 

"  

Robert Ridges and Rabindranath (contd-2)

But Yeats, in later time, also took the side of Bridges and Rothenstein was, to some extent, responsible for his change of mind. Rabindranath used to send new translations of his poems to Rothenstein just to see any slip of pen or any grammatical correction. He did not give any one for editing his poems. Once he sent "Imperfect Encounter" (190. no.93. 9 Feb 1915). Still Rothenstein sent two poems ( 'Judgement' and 'Summer's Pioneer') to Bridges and asked him for editing with a request for correction in language, if necessary. Andrews wrote him " Do not think for a moment that the poet was really troubled hurt by what you did in asking Bridges to correct his rhythm. Bridges liked the poem ' Summer's Pioneer' with a reservation in 'Judgement' and wrote Rothenstein on 12 Mar ; "I should like to have the other in my book.'  But he did not do that. He used the theme according to his necessity and wrote Sir Frederick Macmillan ; " The other day when two of his latest poems, very beautiful ones, were printed in the Times, they were sent to me by his friends with a request that I would touch them up before publication. I of course refused to deal with them without Tagore's authorization."  

Having received the letter dated 22.3.1915  written by Rabindranath on 19.4.1915, Bridges wrote to Rothenstein; "If I may not deal with the English of the Gitanjali poems, I shall not use them, and I shall therefore ask only permission to use the one ( Gitanjali 67), of which Tagore speaks in his letter. The popularity of Gitanjali as claimed by Rabindranath seemed  to be exaggerated to Bridges and he announced confidently, " I am pretty sure that the Gitanjali poems will not gain more appreciation in England than they have already. If they are to extend their popularity nothing could help them more than their recognition in such a book as I propose to bring out." Knowing very well the refusal of Rabindranath about Gitanjali Rothenstein stepped forward  to preserve the honour of the ego of the court-poet Bridges. He wrote a letter to Rabindranath eulogizing Bridges for his knowledge in rhythm; "I hope you will be able to come to some understanding with him, for it would be a pleasure to us lovers of Indian literature to find an ample place for your working his anthology. he is an overbearing , masterful man but a real poet &; has a noble vision.On 12 May he issued another similar certificate saying, " I consider Bridges, although pedantic  & a little overbearing, one of noblest & sincerest men living."      

Robert Ridges and Rabindranath (contd-1)

Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol (28 May 1852 – 22 October 1929) was a journalist, prolific author, historian and British diplomat. He was a passionate imperialist and believed that Imperial Germany and Muslim unrest were the biggest threats to the British Empire.

He was the son of the Rev. Alexander Chirol and Harriet Chirol (née Ashburnham). His education was mostly in France and Germany.
He mis-informed the people residing in Calcutta that "Gitanjali had been re-written by Yeats".
 Having learnt this Rabindranath brought the notice of Rothenstein and Sturge Moor. The proposal of Bridges reminded him the old story. He wrote to Bridges courtesy sake. But he opened his mind in a letter written to Rothensein to vent his anger on 4th April;
" I got a letter from Dr. Bridges with his own version of a Gitanjali poem.  I cannot judge it. But since I have got my fame as an English writer  I feel extreme reluctance in accepting alterations in my English poems by any of your writers. I must not give any reasonable ground for accusing me, -- which they do, -- of reaping advantage of other men's genius and skill. There are people who suspect that I owe in a large measure to Andrew's help for my literary success, which is so false that I can afford to laugh at it.But it is different about Yeats. I think Yeats was sparing in his suggestions -- moreover, I was with him during the revisions. But one is apt to delude himself, and it is very easy for me to gradually forget the share Yeats had in making my things possible. Though you have the first draft of my translations with you I have unfortunately allowed the revised typed pages to get lost in which Yeats pencilled his corrections.Of course, at that time I never could imagine that anything that I could write would find its place in your literature. But the situation is changed now. And if it be true that Yeats' touches have made it possible for Gitanjali to occupy the place it does that must be confessed. At least by my subsequent unadulterated writings my true level should be found out and the faintest speck of lie should be wiped out from the fame I enjoy now. It does not matter what the people think of me but it does matter all the world to me to be true to myself. This is the reason why I cannot accept any help from Bridges excepting where the grammar is wrong or wrong words have been used.My translations are frankly prose, -- my aim is to make them simple with just a suggestion of rhythm to give them a touch of the lyric, avoiding all archaisms and poetical conventions."
But the friends like Rothenstein and Yeats wanted to gratify  the ego of the court-poet Bridge. Rabindranath added further in his letter ;
"Andrews does not admire the alterations made by Bridges but that does not affect me.In fact I am not so much anxious about mutilations as about added beauties which I cannot claim as mine".   
Andrews wrote to Rothenstein on the next day, 5th April ;
" The poet has shown me letter to you and agree fully that Bridges must not be allowed to 'improve ' is work.There is the striking contrast between Yeats and Bridges. The former never put in his own work. I remember him  flashing out the word "improve Tagore's English I should like to see the man who could do it."  And on another occasion when I had altered the word 'coy'he got quite angry at my presumption.This was the spirit of Yeats all through. But Bridges is different. His version of "Thou art the sky" is no longer the Poet's English.....And I am sure . Yeats himself would be the last man in the world to wish it reopened. I can imagine him quite firing up if it were!"
            

Robert Bridges and Rabindranath

Rabindranath had faced some be wilderness at the time when the British court-poet Bridges determined to publish a collection of poems, titled "The Spirit of Man', where he wanted to incorporate three poems of Gitanjali. Three poems bore the nos. 67, 92, and 31 and nine poems with nos. 3,4,9,32,34,37,43,56,76 from "One hundred poems of Kabir". He wrote a letter to Rabindranath  asking his permission  to incorporate the poems with some "verbal alterations".Rabindranath had no objection in this publication. Practically he gave a permission on 14th Jan to Edward Thomson ; " As Macmillans are your publishers it will be easy for you to get permission from them to use some of my poems for our selection. As for myself I gladly give you my permission." 

But in the case of Bridges it was not so easy because he wanted to change some languages of the poems. Still the generosity of Rabindranath stood in the way of his disapproval directly. He expressed his objection in this regard on 22nd Mar in a very polite manner and indirectly;

"I feel flattered when you wish to include some of my things in the anthology you are compiling. So far as I am concerned you are at liberty to choose the poems you want from my works and from my translation of Kabir's poems. but, I am afraid, the right to give you permission rests with my publishers, who. I am sure will not refuse you.

As for rewriting the rhythms of my translations, I assure you, I can have no personal objection because it is not possible for me to have a real critical apprehension of the musical value of English words or their arrangements and I cannot but be grateful for any help I get from such masters of word-music in English as you are. But as the Gitanjali poems have already become popular , any alteration in their rhythm is likely to be unwelcome to the readers familiar with them.The sample you have sent me, I feel, is beautiful. But with things one has grown to love one does not tolerate any change even  for the better. That is my experience. However in this matter also, I am sure, I have no oteroption but to rely upon my publishersand their authority.

This letter of Rabindranath opened a series of large number of letters.

Rabindranath and Bangiya Hitasadhan Mandali

Rabindranath came to Calcutta on 28th March, 1915, to join the 3rd Annual meeting of Bangiya Hitasadhan Mandali. Kalidas Nag wrote;
" At the evening in the meeting of Bangiya Hitasadhan Mandali P.C.Roy, and the Poet discussed on Education and the evening ended nicely." The lecture delivered by Rabindranath had been published in "Pravasi" on 1322 under the title "Pallir Unnati" ( Welfare of the Village). In this lecture Rabindranath spoke some truth in a soft voice. In reading the essays, "Sikshar herfer" and "Hindu Bibaha" written by him, and  narrating  the reactions of Indians about the fate of the
National Fund and other things, Rabindranath explained the development of "terrorism" in Indian politics. He said;
" In doing the welfare of our country we are to utilise the different energies  and initiatives of the people of India in proper manner. If there is no possibility of proper arrangement in the country, then the creative energies of all such resources being obstructed will terminate in a terrible direction. If it does not find easy way of expression, it will end in an  underground way. We should not blame the youths for this, we are to guide them in proper fashion for use of their energies."
Rabindranath was requested to say something about the methods of welfare of a village. Though he was a city dweller, he had the authority of saying something on this subject. He said;
" Only  book knowledge does not yield any good result. A knowledge should be verified by successful application in establishing  an ideal, then the knowledge becomes true.I got some experiences by traversing in this avenue. It may be small, but genuine and therefore it is better than many bookish knowledge."
Rabindranath wanted to apply his idea to construct an Ideal Village. After some time he wanted to apply this idea in "Sriniketan".
     

Dr. Dwijendranath Moitra and Bangiya Hitasadhan Mandali

Dwijendranath Maitra  (1878 – 1950) was son of Lokenath Maitra, who hailed from Rajshahi, now in Bangladesh. Lokenath Maitra had married Jagattarini in an inter-caste widow remarriage, a daring task in those days.

In 1902, he stood first in the M.B. (Bachelor of Medicine) examination from Medical College and was the first Indian to be appointed house surgeon in Mayo Hospital. In 1912, he went to England and America to get himself acquainted with the latest developments in medicine and surgery. There he met Rabindranath Tagore. He discussed about the poet with others
He travelled to the USA with Rabindranath Tagore.
He was a member of Sukumar Ray's Monday Club, which had such noted personalities as Satyendranath Dutta, Suniti Kumar Chaterjee, Atul Prasad Sen, Kalidas Nag, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and Prabhat Kumar Mukhopdhyay as members.
In 1915, he established the Bengal Social Service League. It was initially named Bangiya Hitasadhan Mandali. Possibly the oldest secular social welfare organisation, Rabindranath Tagore was president of this organisation for many years. Jnananjan Niyogi served as its secretary. Amongst others involved in it was Nishi Kanta Bose, a renowned social worker.
He was a pioneer in the use of audio-visual methods for the education of adults. For the training of workers engaged in the field of social welfare, he opened the School of Popular Education in 1924. He set up the Fellowship Club for the enhancement of communal harmony.
In 1930, he visited the Soviet Union to gain first hand experience about community development programmes undertaken in that country. He visited China and Japan in 1934.
He established Srinanda, in 1944, for the education of adult women. Cultural Fellowship with foreign countries is another organisation he set up. Many of his speeches were published in the form of booklets.
His son, Satyen Maitra, is a well-known educationist and social worker.
The proposal of the formation of "Bangiya Hitasadhan Mandali" was discussed by Dr.Dwijendranath Moitra for long time. On 26th Jan a seminar was arranged by "Sadharan Brahmo Samaj" on the subject "Prachar O Seba". It was decided there in the seminar that the peoples welfare was their main purpose.
"Bangiya Hitasadhan Mandali" was first fotmed here with 42 members amongst the 46 present in the seminar. At the proposal of Pandit Sitanath Tattwabhushan and supported by all present,  Dr. Moitra was elected as the secretary of the Mandali.  

Rabindranath and Bangiya Hitasadhan Mandali

Bipin Chandra pal and Radhakamal Mukhopadhyay criticised about Rabindranath's literature that it could not express common people's life.  Rabindranath said about this;

"This is true also in literature. If we become delighted and think that from our own status that we shall create literature about their life then we will import a huge amount of rubbish that will require many trucks to remove. This is not within our limit.As we cannot drink on behalf of others so we cannot live on behalf of others. Literature  is the reflection of life and cannot be created on demand.Since from ancient times folk-literature were created from the people within that society. In every literature there are good, better and best, so also in folk literature.Among this literature which is good that is best --in its supporting base there is nothing to be disappointed. Therefore, only out of mercy, a college educated urban people should not take the post of creator of folk-literature."

At this period some extra-ordinary enthusiasm was found from some quarter for folk-welfare. After a few days an organisation named "Bangiya Hitasadhan Mandali" was formed at the initiative of Dr. Dwijendranath Moitra on 13th Feb,1915. Rabindranath delivered the inaugural speech of this organisation. Probably Dr.Moitra had a preliminary discussion before the formation of this organisation. The speech delivered by Rabindranath  was published as a gist form in  the title "Karmajanga".

Rabindranath didnot show  any eagerness. He only advised them all to stay within the limit of "educating the folk people." This he explained in a novel form in "Ghare-Baire".  

    

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Letters by Tagore

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Lord Carmichael and Santiniketan

The date for visiting Santiniketan by Lord Carmichael was fixed on 20th March, 1915. After returning from Calcutta Rabindranath became busy to arrange  welcome ceremony of Lord Carmichael. But mentioning the phenomenon  as " Carmichael-er Hangama" Rabindranath wrote to Pramatha Choudhury on 15th March;

" Now I'm busy for welcoming His Highness Lord Carmichael " and another letter, dated nil, to Rathindranath, " Probably we will be in need of a big umbrella for Carmichael because it is sunny day. If he wants to visit the school, we are to hold an umbrella over his head as because this is summer "

In another letter he informed Rathi, " you wrote me that you are sending  a canopy, a very finely-woven mat and other things by parcel-post. I think it was better to send them by man.... You need not send your car here.The Viceroy will bring his two cars. But the uniforms should reach here timely."

Some special arrangements had been made for welcoming Lord Carmichael. The biographer of Rabindranath wrote; 

" A stage is prepared in the mango-garden.That stage is still known as Carmichael-Stage. Some changes have been made in the temple.There were two small rooms on both sides of the temple for keeping umbrella, foot-wears etc.In front of the gate of the temple there  were  two vertical slabs where hymns of Brahmoism were written. Those were visible if one came out of the temple.The two rooms  and the two pillars containing the slabs with hymns of Brahmoism  were demolished. The slabs were kept on both sides of the gate of the temple, which  are visible even today. There was a stage in the name of Maharshi Devindranath under the seven-leaf tree (Chatimtala). In the front of the stage there was an arch of white marble-stone engraved with the words "Santam-Sivam-Adwaitam" which was taken out and fixed in front of he " Carmichael Stage." But now this is not there."  

Dhiren Krishna Devbarma wrote;

On the occasion of impending visit of Lord Carmichael to Santiniketan, the students of Brahmacharyasram viz; Dhirendra Krishna Devbarma, Sharadindoo Nandi, Dwijendralal Roy, Mani Gupta, a design were engraved at the base of the mango trees in the form of the leaves of Lotus and filled the gaps by stone chifs.. 

As per directions given by Asit Kumar stage was prepared with cement in the form of a semicircle. "

In the book written by Asit Kumar titled "Rabitirthe" while describing in details of the  occasions, he mentioned the names of the artist Santosh Mitra, Sushil Bandyopadhyay, and Mukul De. He also described the painted stairs of the stage , address of honour, and the tray on which that was kept.

Lord Carmichael came with his wife according to his time table to Bankura on 18th Mar and then reached Suri with Commissioner Mr Lees of Bardwan Division, chief secretary Mr. Cummings and other government officials. Then they arrived at Bolpur on 20th Mar.

The detail descripotion of the programme was published on 22 Mar in "The Amrita Bazar Patrika";

" Burdwan March 20....This morning an early start was made. The party breakfasted in a tent at Bolpur Station, then motored to the Santiniketan of Dr, Rabindranath Tagore. After spending an hour with Dr. Tagore and the teachers and the boys . Their Excellencies returned by the train at Bolpur."