Rabindranath along with Pratima Devi, Rathnindranath, and Kedar Nath Dasgupta started for England on 19th March in a Dutch ship, "Rhyndam", from New York. The ocean was rough and the journey was not smooth. Rathindranath wrote in his diary;
" Father dejected during whole voyage. Letters to Dr. Lewis & Andrews indicate his mental condition "
Six letters written to Andrews, titled "Letters from Abroad" are kept in Rabindra Bhavan. The first three letters expressed the situation they had to face due to the recent developments of National and International politics. Rabindranath was not a political man, he expressed his political view as " I love India. But my India is an idea and not a geographical expression. Therefore I am not a patriot - I shall never seek my compatriots all over the world. He was simply a poet. His patriotism has a separate meaning. He never wanted to allow his eyes blurred due to patriotism. He would, surely, protest when India would be put to injustice not because "he is an Indian but because he is a human being". His protest would be justified on humanitarian ground. Mr. Andrews was also of the same opinion.
In the fourth letter he gave an out line of political idea in the form of an allegory like "Totakahini", "Ghora", "Kartar Bhut", "Bidushak" etc. He wanted to present his idea to Satyendranath Dutta for giving it a final shape - "he may set it in those inimitable verse forms of which he is a master - and make it ring with the music of happy laughter."
In the fifth letter he showed his apprehension about the future of Viswa Bharati, the wave of which might be obstructed because " it has been acquiring power from outside my own resources, and it is material power." Many Americans suggested him to establish Viswa Bharati on a granite foundation for its long life. Rabindranath's apprehension was that this permanency might not be like a burial, " Santiniketan has been the playground of my own spirit. What I created on its soil was made of my own dream-stuff. Its materials are few, its regulations are elastic, its freedom has the inner restraint of beauty. But the International University will be stupendous in weight and rigid in construction , and if we try to move it , it will crack."
" Father dejected during whole voyage. Letters to Dr. Lewis & Andrews indicate his mental condition "
Six letters written to Andrews, titled "Letters from Abroad" are kept in Rabindra Bhavan. The first three letters expressed the situation they had to face due to the recent developments of National and International politics. Rabindranath was not a political man, he expressed his political view as " I love India. But my India is an idea and not a geographical expression. Therefore I am not a patriot - I shall never seek my compatriots all over the world. He was simply a poet. His patriotism has a separate meaning. He never wanted to allow his eyes blurred due to patriotism. He would, surely, protest when India would be put to injustice not because "he is an Indian but because he is a human being". His protest would be justified on humanitarian ground. Mr. Andrews was also of the same opinion.
In the fourth letter he gave an out line of political idea in the form of an allegory like "Totakahini", "Ghora", "Kartar Bhut", "Bidushak" etc. He wanted to present his idea to Satyendranath Dutta for giving it a final shape - "he may set it in those inimitable verse forms of which he is a master - and make it ring with the music of happy laughter."
