(video) Rabindranath and Sukumar Roy ( 1887 - 1923)

Sukumar Ray (Bengali: সুকুমার রায়), ( Shukumar Ray (help·info)), (1887–1923) was a Bengali humorous poet, story writer and playwright who mainly wrote for children. As perhaps the most famous Indian practitioner of literary nonsense, he is often compared to Lewis Carroll. His works such as the collection of poems "Aboltabol" (Bengali: আবোলতাবোল)("Gibberish"), novella "HaJaBaRaLa" (Bengali: হযবরল), short story collection "Pagla Dashu" (Bengali: পাগলা দাশু; "Crazy Dashu") and play "Chalachittachanchari" (Bengali: চলচিত্তচঞ্চরী) are considered nonsense masterpieces equal in stature to Alice in Wonderland, and are regarded as some of the greatest treasures of Bangla literature. More than 80 years after his death, Ray remains one of the most popular of children's writers in both West Bengal and Bangladesh.

Sukumar Ray was the son of famous children's story writer Upendrakishore Ray (Ray Chowdhury) and the father of legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray and grandfather of famous Bengali filmmaker Sandip Ray.
Sukumar Roy expired on 10th Sept, 1923, at the age of 36. he was suffering from incurable disease "Kalajwar".
Sukumar Ray died on 10th September, 1923 of severe infectious fever, leishmaniasis, for which there was no cure at the time. He left behind his widow and their only child, Satyajit. Satyajit Ray .
Rabindranath went to see him in Calcutta before coming to Santiniketan and sung two songs at his request.
" Aache Duukhu, aache mrityu, Biraha dahana Lage", and

" Dukha e noy, sukha nahe go"
The last song he had to sing twice at his request.
He narrated all these during his prayer on 12th sept. at Santiniketan which was published in "Shantiniketan" , Bhadra issue. He said ; " when a man is going to die the whole energy of his life is spent in struggling with the disease and that becomes the main factor in his life.  But man is not like other animals, he is born to arrange his living in a world beyond this one. When I sat by my most dearest and affectionate young friend Sukumar Roy during his illness, I was remembering these things.I have seen many deaths but at the time of this untimely death of such a tender young boy, I have not seen any one to offer one's life at this age to the almighty god in such a peaceful way. He sung for the eternal being at his death bed. My heart is full of reverence for him.".      

Rabindranath and Winternitz (contd-2)

" Uttar-Ramacharit" was staged on 15th Sept in the evening and Winternitz bade farewell in the night of 16th Sept at Santiniketan. he was garlanded and was put a sacred mark on his forehead with the paste of sandal-wood. He was offered a dhooti, a modesty scarf and a ring. Rabindranath uttered Vedic hymn and after that   he, Bidhusekhar Sashtri and Benoit read the felicitation paper. Rabimdranath said;
Acharya M. Winternitz,
Before you came to us we had been aware of your reputation as one of the foremost scholars whose knowledge comprehended an amazingly vast field of Indian literature.  We felt grateful to you for having accepted our invitation and were proud to be able to receive you as our honoured guest . On the day when we must bid you farewell, let us assure you that our love for your personality has become equal to our reverence for your scholarship, and that though in outward appearence the time of your stay with us has been short, spiritually it has acquired a permanence in our heart.
Through the reticence of your modesty has sweetly shown the love of truth, and the love of manwhich is so completely free from race prejudice, from the narrow spirit of egotism, your intellectual outlook has found its moral background in the unity of man ; and this has strengthened our love for the Viswabharati ideal. In fact, your personal contact with the inmates of this Asrama has been a living contribution to the building up of our Institution which for its materials must never depend upon bricks and mortar, rules and regulations, but upon its faith in human history of the ceaseless endeavour to reach the highest expression of the spiritual meaning of existence.
It is needless to tell you that we have started our Viswabharati with the expectation of attracting round it, from all parts of the world, individuals, who, in the present turmoil of contradiction, still cherish hope in the ultimate triump of the Shantam and Shivam, who in the light of the Adaitam will recognize themselves as brothers when they meet, though belonging to different climates and  rcaes. We have found you, dear friend, as one such, and our brothers' greetings we offer to you at this of our parting."
On the next day Rabindranath went along him to the station and helped him to get his seat in the train.      
    

Rabindranath and Winternitz (contd-1)

On 9th Sept. in the evening, on the 2nd floor of the Viswabharati Library a  general meeting of Sammilani was held where Rabindranath took the president's chair. Winternitz started reading an essay on  a comparison between Indian literature with the International Literature  and finished it on 13th Sept. Rabindranath liked the essay very much. It was decided that Winternitz had to go to Banaras and Rabindranath wrote to Ranu,
" Winternitz will go to Banaras at the end of  Sept. Request your father so that proper reception is made to his behalf. he delivered a lecture on " Indian literature as a World Literature. and if a lecture be arranged there - your father may request him to do so."
It was decided that the teachers and the students would stage a drama on the day of fare-well of Winternitz. Rabindranath added in his letter written to Ranu;
" Winternitz will bid his farewell from Ashram on 15th Sept. On that occasion the students will tage a portion of the drama " Uttar-Ramcharit"  Sita, Basanti, Tamasa etc are preparing themselves in full swing for taking the final make up. Having noticed this Dinoo has furious, he has thrown both of his hands to sky and said ;
" Ghor kali eseche ghanaye - chinna gumpha
Dambha bhare nari-kanti haribare chay,
Kachcha-koncha sari-rupe asphalan kare /"
His messenger came to me just now and expressed his grief. I too got aggrieved. Just on that day I stood on the stage with full pride accompanying with my companion as a co-actress. I presumed that her voice was telling me, Bhanu Dada, come and let us go beyond this stage.In reply I said, Yes, yes, I shall go. Ranu I shall go because I had to go." Tomorrow is the day fixed for the drama. I decided to make them encouraged being present there. It will be difficult for me to encourage them when they will act on the stage."
 

   

Rabinadranath and Winternitz

Moriz Winternitz (1863 - 1937)

A professor of Indian philology and ethnology at the German University, Prague, Moriz Winternitz was an authority on ancient and medieval Indian Literature. Rabindranath met Winternitz in 1920 on a visit to Prague. On the invitation of the Poet, Winternitz came to Santiniketan as Visiting Professor in February 1923 and stayed till September 1924. Besides his regular classes, he would often give lectures on the history of Sanskrit literature. During his stay he started a project to collect various versions of the Mahabharata and edit them for publication. Mention should be made of his magnum opus, A History of Indian Literature. He also wrote a monograph in German on Rabindranath : Rabindranath Tagore - Religion and Weltanschaung des Dichters in 1936 The time of farewell of M. Winternitz was near at hand. He began a research work with the students of Viswabharati to prepare a comparative study of Mahabharat . He went to Poona in Bhandarkar Institute . To proceed with the work in his absence he wrote to Rabindranath on 5th Sept. 1923, informing him him that he is going to recommend one of his student namely Dr. Otto Stein to do the rest of his work. But he could not be appointes since he did not get leave from his University where he was working.

Rabindranath- Indira Devi and Raktakarabi (cont-4)

(Indira Devi and Tagore, 1886.)

 The only translated typed manuscript [Ms.36] kept in Rabindra-Bhavan was edited Rabindranath and Indira Devi. This translation was the 6th manuscript [Ms 149 (ii)] , the time period of which was earmarked by Sudhendu Ranjan Homroy

" end of 1923 or beginning of 1924  -  Gurudev was then staying with Prasanta ch. Mahalanobis at his Alipore residence. The manuscript which Rabindranath had almost completed, this was not that one. The manuscript which was printed in Bahurupee magazine was the manuscript prepared with the help of Benoit.  

(video) Rakta Karabi song from album Rakta Karabi - Rakta Karabi songs - Bengali Music - Bengali Songs, Soundtracks, Music, Lyrics, Videos and Trailers - Rakta Karabi album

Rakta Karabi song from album Rakta Karabi - Rakta Karabi songs - Bengali Music - Bengali Songs, Soundtracks, Music, Lyrics, Videos and Trailers - Rakta Karabi album

Rabindranath and Raktakarabi ( contd-3)

The above two letters written by Rabindranath referred  to "Raktakarabi" and its English translation which would come very soon. Rabindranath informed Ranu on 6th Sept, " I am going on doing translation of "Nandini" with the help of Benoit (Fernand Benoit - author) Hope, it will be finished tomorrow."
[ A census report of 1940 in America shows about Fernand Benoit] 
On 5th Sept he rote to Ramananda Chattopadhyay , " The drama "YakshaPuri" it will be better if you make arrangement for publishing it in Phalgun or Chaitra issue of "Pravasi" instead of publishing it in Puja issue . I do not like to publish it before it is staged. I shall send you the copy in time."

This is to be noted that the name of the drama was still "Nandini" or "Yakshapuri". Though he didnot use the name Yakshapuri in any one of his manuscript. But it was so popular in the minds of public that it had automatically came out of his pen. The name Raktakarabi was not given to the drama even then. It was visible in 8th manuscript, when the use of the name of flower "Raktakarabi" was use sufficiently. The theoretical significance of the name began to explore. But the drama was going to be printed without assigning the name as Raktakarabi or the translation was going to be completed with the help of Prof. Ferand Benoit, a multilingual Swish-French writer.  Even it was thinking to stage it in an auditorium.  

Rabindranath and Tomiko Yoda [Kora]

Tomiko Yoda

Takashima Professor of Japanese Humanities

Tomiko Yoda is the Takashima Professor of Japanese Humanities in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. She received her Ph.D. in Japanese from Stanford in 1996 and has taught at Duke, Cornell, and Stanford before arriving at Harvard. She is a recipient of fellowships from NEH, SSRC, Japan Foundation, and National Humanities Center.
Professor Yoda’s research focuses on modern and pre-modern Japanese literature, literary history, and media studies; issues of gender in contemporary Japan; and feminist theory. She is the author of Gender and National Literature: Heian Texts and the Constructions of Japanese Modernity (Duke, 2004) and co-editor with Harry Harootunian of Japan After Japan: Social and Cultural Life from the Recessionary 1990s to the Present (Duke, 2006). She has published articles in edited volumes and journals in both Japanese and English on topics of gender issues in contemporary Japanese economy and culture; Japanese literary studies; and the intersection of the two. Her forthcoming work, “Girl Time: Gender and Postmodern Consumer Culture in Japan,” examines gender construction in post-1960s Japanese consumer culture..
In 1916 Rabindranath visited Japan and met the student Tomoko Yoda of Womens' University there. She studied in different universities of America and could translate the lecture of Rabindranath from English to Japanese.
When Rabindranath went to America in 1920, he met Yoda in New York. Rabindranath received a letter from her [ the details of the letter of Tomiko Yoda can be had in " Japani santiniketan written by Amitava Gupta] and replied to it that he would go to Japan after visiting China in 1924. He expected that she would visit Santiniketan as had been done by Miss Flowm,  the citizen of Palestine and wrote " I have recently completed a drama which will probably be published in Englishbefore long.I think that you will be interested since you wrote that Japan too is suffering a change which may turn into a "clever commercialisation"
and my tale is concerned with the present [...] of unrighteousness and industrialism."
Tomiko Yoda acted as interpreter of Rabindranath when he visited japan in 1924.

Rabindranath and Upton Sinclair

Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968), was an American author and one-time candidate for governor of California who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). It exposed conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. Time magazine called him "a man with every gift except humor and silen

While visiting America in 1916, Rabindranth met the socialist writer of America , Upton Sinclair, in Pasadena station of California.He wrote a letter to Rabindranath on 3rd July 1923, informing him to remember their discussion at that time and promised to send copies of all the books to Santiniketan written by him. Having reached the books to Santiniketan Rabindranath wrote him a letter on 4th Sept congratulating him. He also mentioned his opinion about the book , " The brass Check [1919]" after reading it,
" Your fearless stand for truth, for the things that are right, your view point of the humiliation that worship of money brings, its stifling quality, its empty arrogance, its insidious undermining of self-respect, its valuelessness, all the attributes which are its curse when dollars own the man; these ideas which you inculcated in this particular book immediately made a bend of sympathy. For years I have thought over these things, this especial phase of our modern civilisation, and only a few weeks ago I have myself finished a drama on the same subject." he also promised to send a copy of English version of "Raktakarabi", namely Redoleanders after being published. He maintained correspondence with him through letters upto the end of his life.  

Rabindranth and Ranu Adhikari (contd from post 19.7.12)

After finishing the acting of Bisarjan, interview with reporters, and lecture etc he came to Santiniketan from Calcuttaon 2nd Sept. Ranu also came along with him to Santiniketan. Rabindranath wrote a letter to sarajubala Adhikari on 3rd Sept;
" Now, we have finished our acting. Ranu is going home with Andrews.She has earned much fame by acting here. She was looking beautiful on putting her dresses. Moreover, I believe that this acting in such an environment is a lesson in her life.  I was confined to Calcutta this time for long .I got free yesterday and taking rest at present. Ranu was with us for many days. Now it seemed to me vacant. not only to me, everybody including Gagan felt vacant in her absence. Her laughter, conversation she became thew center of all amusement. Now she has to be involved in her activities. I too will be doing the same. I have to go to China and prepar lecture for that. Within a day or two I will be starting my writing."
He has to begin his work just now. He will preside over the meeting of 4th session of Viswabharati.
After Ranu having been started for Banaras, Rabindranath changed his place of accommodation and wrote to Ranu on 6 Sept,
" Do you want to know, where do I sit and write? That is not the place where you saw me last. I have come to the place tomorrow where I permanently used to stay. The place where I am doing my writing now is known to you but there is a change of furniture. My table covered with slate has been moved from south-east corner to north-west corner. A wooden caught has taken that place."            

Rabindranath and Bisarjan (contd-7)

Rabindranath being  much pleased by reading the critical appreciation in a fine poetic English language wrote Amal Hom ; I saw in your paper the comments of Amrita lal Basu about my Bisarjan extending his open eulogium.  His unequivocal appreciation gave me satisfaction. You will please convey my heartiest greetings to him. I don't  remember that I got any appreciation from the well person in the field of drama earlier.
After the 3rd show held on 28th Aug an advertisement was published in Ananda Bazar Patrika ;
" Bishes Anurodhe / Bisarjaner Punarabhinay / Rabindranath himself will participate / Empire Theater / Thursday 30th Aug 5.30 pm. Entry fee is less than before.
The Satesman also printed another advertisement mentioned by Rudrprasad Chakraborty;
" Empire Theater / in aid of Viswabharati / By special request / for one day only/ Rabindranath Tagore/ In Visarjan/ saturday 1st sept.
So, there were 5 shows of the drama. Ranu Mokhopadhyay in her memoir wrote about the incident occurred in one day ;
"  Oh, what happened in one day ! In old Empire the Theater Bisarjan  is going on. All on sudden a spark of fire had fallen from the top Being afraid I ran to the green room. Bhanu Dada dressed in Joysingh caught hold of my hand. Asking me as per the situation began to recite his dialogue fluently."Rabindranath too mentioned the incident in a letter written to Ranu from China on 21st April 1924 , " It came to my mind all on a sudden, the days of the drama Bisarjan. at the back side of me there is droppings of fire and I am fluently uttering my dialogue catching hold of a girl's hand. If I tried to run away, we would not have any difficulty of getting heads of human body for the goddess Mahakali "
There was no shortage  of greetings coming from different sources which is visible in the book
 " Rangamancha O Rabindranath : Samakalin Pratikriya." by Rudraprasad  Chakraborty.       

Rabindranath and Bisarjan ( contd-6)

Basu, Amrita Lal (1853-1929) dramatist and actor, born in Kolkata. He was one of the pioneers of the nineteenth-century public theatre in Bengal. After passing the Entrance examination from Calcutta General Assembly's Institution, he was admitted to Medical College, but, after two years of study, dropped out to study homeopathy. For a short time he practised homeopathy in Kolkata, but soon turned to acting and writing plays
The famous script writer and player Amritalal Basu saw the performance on the first day, 25th Aug. His long article on this drama titled " Visarjan - An appreciation"was published in The Indian Daily News on 4th Sept. he wrote;
" On Saturday last I went to see the performance of Rabindranath's Visarjan produced at the "Empire" under the author's direction, himself taking a leading role.
Few actors know how to make their entrances and exits.Babu Dinendranath Tagore, as the high priest of the Holy Mother's Temple, entered and, before he uttered a single word, we knew that the genius of an actor was in him.....
Next comes the little lady in the character of Aparna, the beggar girl. As everything on the stage must be counterfeit, a real Ranee was chosen to represent a beggar, the ducking glides in and out of the stage as if the board were her play-pond; naive in speech, artless in manner, how sweetly she laid her virgin cheek on the step-stone to cares her pet, her stolen and slain kid, the acting heart murmuring soft words soaked in tears.
After the officers have preceded  comes the General. The Rabindranath, born great, he has achieved greatness and greatness courts him, too. The great poet is a great actor, almost a mater of the technique of stagecraft. but young aspirants to histrionic fame, beware of the great master ! As in poetry one must drink at the fountain of Rabindranath's mind and not simply borrow his words, so on the stage, one should imbibe the spirit of his acting and not imitate him in action, attitude, gesture or pose. They are all his own, and the copyright is not to be infringed.
In endowing Rabi Babu with a great mind. Providence seems to have prepared a special mould to cst the golden casket in which that mind was to find its home. There is, in the masculine frame of Rabindranath, such a judicious admixture of the faminine, that the product almost approaches the Divine. He sighs, murmurs, wails, kneels, claps his hands, draws out his long vowels; and we feel that the woman peeps out without making efferminate the poetry of his presentation ....
Not in the plot but in the play was an angelic figure who came and went, justifying her own musical name by her sweet songs...
The play succeeded without any external aid. It was one continuous current of acting , without division into scenes or acts. No display of colour in wings, borders or back-scene. One looked on the neutral-tinted cloth before one's eyes, and imagination did the rest. "            
           

Rabindranath and Bisarjan (contd-5)

Stage-decoration and dressing and painting are the two subjects which were developed by constant research work. Samar Bhowmik wrote;
" It was only Rabindranath who was the key person of all these activities and for this reason Abanindranath or Gaganendranath had to draw sketches of stage, light and make up and to get the approval of Rabindranath. Rabindranath has monitored every aspect of stage, make up and paintings before the final performance. This type of work in giving a final shape to the drama Abanindranath and Gaganendranath have done many times by spending their valuable times in their professional work under the direction of Rabindranath to create characters in dramas of National level. This will undoubtedly serve the purpose of final show under the direction of Rabindranath. Only in 1923, at least 6 dozens of such paintings were made ready. The credit of the stage craft and make done this year was due to nandalal basu and Surendranath Kar.
Dinendranath wore a red silk dress usually put on during religious festival and Rabindranath put on yellow dress . The other roles took dresses suitable to their roles.The sleeves of the shirts were long and hairs were untied with strings of beads on the neck. Abanindranath and gaganendranath took the role of villagers. Gagan Babu was carrying a hookah and Abanindranath was in a comic role.
The Shraban-issue of "Prabartak" criticised of putting same dresses by Raghupati and Gunabati on all the three days.
the Viswabharati Quarterly in its Viswa-Bharati Bulletin on Oct 1923 reported about the performance mentioning about the dress and stage;
" ..... the stage was draped throughout in different shades of dark blue, deepening as they receded into the background. There was no change of scene, the blood stained temple steps,  designed in Cubist fashion, dominated the eye throughout ; a lurid  red light marked the entrance to the Temple itself, invisible in the darkness beyond the wings ; while the songs of the World Mother served to punctuate the otherwise continuous action. The other stage accessories, requisitioned to assist in the interpretation, were  the colour schemes of the costumes in combination with changing light effects against the dark blue hangings, symbolic of the play of samsara on the continum of Mahakala..

Rabindranath and Bisarjan (contd-4)

There was commendation every where for the stage performance. Sita Devi wrote;
" Rabindranath acted in the role of Joysingha but his age at that time was 62 years. Any one who observed his performance of moving like an young man might misunderstood about his actual age. Dinendranath took the role of Raghupati. His blood stained dress of Bhairab still  appears in one's mind. The songs of the villagers was appreciable. The dresses and paintings of the artists was flawless. Ananda Bazar Patrika  wrote on 29th Aug,
" The technical side of the drama was wonderful. Rabindranath played in the role of Joysingha. His acting was unique. The contradictions in the character of Joysingha were expressed by him was unparallel. It was rare to see such an acting."
A printed booklet of 2x14 pages was published by Calcutta Art Press containing the details of the of the programme. On a yellow cover page "Bisarjan: was written with red ink and in the page one the name of the persons with their roles were written on 1st Page. On the 2nd page the scenes and the characters to appear were published under the head " Bhadra 1330", from page 3-7 with specific timings of each scene such as,
" Pratakal, Dwiprahar, Aparahna, Sandhya, Ratri O Ratrisesh ". On the second say  - Pratakal, Aparahna, Sandhya, Ratri O Gabhir Raatri and on 3rd day - Pratakal O Raatri. There were 13 scenes in total. On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd day there were two breaks. 11 songs were printed in full from 9 to 13 pages.
1. Timira duara kholo,
2. Jhara Jhara rakta jhare,
3. Ami ekla chalechi bhabe,
4. Eto ranga sikhecha kothay muktamalini,
5. Amar andhar Bhalo,
6. Din phuralo he sangsari,
7. kon bhiru ke bhay dekabi,
8. Thakte ar to parlinema, parli kai,
9. andhar raate ekla pagol,
10. amar Jabar bela pichu dake, and
11. Joy Joy Parama nishkriti.
The changes of scenes were indicated not by dropping the curtain but by operating the switch of the current, off and on.  
  

Rabindranath and Bisarjan ( contd-3)

Rabindranath was attacked with Dengu and Bisarjan could not be staged on 29th july, 1923. But on
8th Aug   , 1923 there was an insertion in Ananda Bazar Patrika, " Rabindranath is well". In response to queries   Patrika sent a correspondence to Rabindranath who said, " I was suffering from Dengu fever for 5/6 days. Fever was high at the beginning and there was pain through out my body. At present I am better but I feel weakness."  
On the same day Rabindranath wrote to Kadambini Dutta, " There is a remission of my fever, but weakness is embracing through out my whole body. But it will take some time to get relief of my fatigues."
Being free from illness he wrote to Ranu on 8th Aug;
" There is no song, only the instrument is left. I asked Rathi to send the Esraj with Subir. But Rathin did not reply. Perhaps he is thinking that the will be kept there till it is brought by the pull of the music. ...I wrote to your father to fetch you here again. We will be in difficulty if you don't come. I asked Gagan to make Manju ready for Aparna. But that was not done.You know that he does not like any other person to replace you. The father of Subir is going to Banaras today. If it is possible to send you with him, it is well and good. Otherwise, one has to send to fetch you after a week. We have to do rehearsal again for some days. We are sure that you can remember everything but you know the memory of your Bhanu Dada. If we donot do rehearsal for 5/6 days then there may be some gross mistakes."
Advrtisement was given on 14th Aug for the Stage show of the drama;
" Viswabharati Sammilani / for contributing to Viswabharati fund / Bisarjan / Rabindranath himself to act / Empire Theater / Present date / Sat. 25th Aug at 5.30 pm/ Monday, 27th Aug at 5.30 pm / Tuesday, 28th Aug at 5.30 pm. The holders of tickets of
Tuesday 31st July will get entry in 25th Aug
Wednesday 1st Aug...,,            in 27th aug
 Friday  3rd Aug    .......,,          in 28th Aug.
Rabindranath again gave a reminder to Ranu,
" I am trying to bring you in time.I asked Kshitimohan Babu who came here, but he replied it is not possible for him to do this. Now there is none who can be relied to fetch you here. I send a telegram to your father today.  Let us see the result.at least you should reach here within 19th. I have already forgotten everything. If we do not do rehearsal for days, the result will not be upto our expectation. The audience is very anxious now - they are expecting much. We have to fulfill their desire."
It is expected Ranu had  reached in time. But due to her fever she could not perform the drama on the firts day -25th Aug  in the role of Aparna. The eldest daughter Manjushree did the role. The following artists played in the respective roles;
Joysingha....Rabimdranath
Raghupati....Dinendranath
Govindamanikya...Tapan mohan Chattopadhyay
Nayan Roy....Kshitish Prasad Chattopadhyay
Chandpal.....Asoke Cattopadhyay
Rani Gunabati....Sanga Thakur [ on first day, later Manjushree]
Aparna ....Manjushree [ first day , later Ranu Adhikari]
Hasi.....anubha thakur
Tata...Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay
Janata....Haripada Roy, sanjiv choudhury, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis,
             Hemanta Chattopadhyay, Sushil bandyopadhyay,
            Dhiren Krishna Devbarma
Jaganmata...... Sahana Basu
The drama was appreciated by all.Lighting, stage and craft were excellent.    

Rabindranath and Bisarjan (contd-2)

Gobindamanikya, Tripura’s monarch, on realizing the futility of blood sacrifices, issued a ban on these unnecessary slaughters at the altar of the Goddess. Undoubtedly, this caused a general discontent in the state that was encouraged by high priest Raghupati, who held himself supreme in the matter of religion.
Rabindranath was attacked with Dengu and the date of staging Bisarjan in New Empire was postponed. As a result Ranu returned back to Banaras.She was a student of I.A. in Banaras. She came to Santiniketan before the summer vacation started and went to Shillong with Rabindranath. She stayed there for about one and half months and came to Calcutta. She did not return to Banaras though her college reopened after vacation. She had to attend rehearsal of Bisarjan because she was chosen to act in the role of Aparna by Rabindranath. But since the date of staging drama was postponed  she returned back to Banaras on 26-27 July.
Rabindranath used to stay on the 2nd floor of Maharshi Bhavan in his own room during the days, rehearsal of Bisarjan were going on. Ranu too lived on the same floor with Pratima Devi. She with her usual habit moved freely to the room of Rabindranath frequently and tried to disturb him. But Rabindranath wrote after many days ( 13 Oct) a letter to Ranu recollecting from his memory;
" .....I remember the days when you stayed in Jorasanko and were preparing yourselves for Bisarjan and  I was busy in editing the drama " Nandini , you tried in different ways to create a hitch to my work. there is  some attraction to one's own duty but if I say that there is no pull in your creation of hitches to me , my innerself will protest against it. Those days of your presence is still alive in my memory. My room on the 2nd floor of Maharshi Bhavan is full of sounds and its echoes of those days."
Ranu, too, recollected her memory stating an incident;
" One day I fell ill after the rehearsal and was lying down in the room adjacent to the bed-room of Bhanu Dada. I don't know why the attendant who put "Alta" in ladies leg, came to the room. On seeing me in that room she cried loudly saying - "Alas, what will happen ?" She left the room with a loud shouting. " What happened on that day ? Probably, she saw " Bauthan" , who died long ago. This Bauthan was none else than the poet's source of inspiration of many creation, Kadambari Devi. I don't know whether I resemble her ? Many commented, yes- you do. Bhanu Dada said, "it is same as it was from nose to forehead but different after that."  But her complexion was bright black."
Sahana Devi wrote, " One can not  imagine Rabindranath without his making joke and laughter. His jokes and imagery were so peculiar, lively and refined and his way of speaking was so exceptional that there was no duplicate to it. One can not be made to understand if he does not see it in his own eyes. Even it is not a matter to  make one understand. Moreover his style of speaking was exceptionally  attractive that one will very easily feel the presence of his genius in his wit and humour. ....."  
       

Rabindranath and Bisarjan (contd-1)

Rabindranath himself added the character of Vivek ( Jaganmata)  in his own handwriting in the manuscript Ms 134 (ii) and wrote;
Jhunu / Janani Tomar Arunacharanakhani / pranam O prasthan / sankhaghanta. "
He was hesitant to include the two songs, 1. Timira Duara Khola, 2. Joy joy parama nishkriti, He was yet to decide in which scenery he would start with these songs. He was thinking of applying the song " Je raate mor duarguli".
It was found in the script [ Ms 134 (ii) ] , the scenes were divided as;
'bhor', 'lal abha', 'morning' '8 AM', 12 AM, 'Afternoon', 'Baikal', 'Surjasta', 'Evening', 'Night'  9 PM', 'The same direction of timings was given in the stage management.
Sahana Devi used to remain present on every rehearsal day to sing in the role of Jaganmata.
She wrote about the method of training as a director, Rabindranath ;
" To observe the method of teaching of Rabindranath is also a lesson to every body ....I remember this many times. To me it seems that the poet to make one understand not by simply giving his instructions. He himself does the role to show the person doing that. As many times as required he repeats acting the role to one understand without hesitation. He mixes up himself with the character  which he wants to show. In many occasions he has to perform one after another to show their roles, I am astonished to see that how swiftly he could change himself from one role to  another.
 I remember how he teaches Ranu in the role of 'Aparna'. In the first scene Aparna has to move quickly to fall at the feet ' Govindamanikya' and say with the expression of sorrow and distraction in her face and utter with aggrieved voice - 'I expect judgement' . How this small dialogue, ' I expect judgement' to be said with and with which attitude  to be said, he showed several times till Ranu gets it, is a matter of astonishment. The poet trained her little by little in his own hand that when I saw her in the role on the stage I was overwhelmed with joy with the creation of Rabindranath."
Ranu wrote in her memoirs ;
" Banu dada took the role of Joy Singha and myself in the role Aparna. He likes my acting. I appered in the stage in this role again and again. But during rehearsal it seemed to be very difficult. In Jorasanko the rehearsal was like staging in a jatra. Peoples were sitting on all sides of the place of rehearsal.The people sitting on all sides were not of ordinary stature. They  were like Jagadish Chandra Bose, sarat chandra Chattopadhyay etc. In that environment I had to perform my role with all the expression and say my dialogue.  I was trembling with fear several times when he got me by force and scolded me.which was beyond the limit."
Ananda Bazar Patrika published the advertisement of the programme;
" To contribute Viswabharati's fund / Bisarjan / Among the Participants / Rabindranath himself / Tuesday, 31st july, at 5.30 pm / Wednesday, 1st Aug, 5.30 pm / Friday, 3rd aug, 5.30 pm / Empire theater hall / entry Fee / Box- 50/-, 40/-, 30/-, and 25/- galary Re1/- / Special arrangements for ladies / Office to get invitation Card - / Kar and Mahalanobis / 1/2 Chauranghee / From 12 am to 7 pm / Sammilani office / 10 no. Cornwallis Street / 7 am to 10 pm.
But the Secretary of Sammilani Prasanta Chandra in a notice informed on 31st July on the first day of the drama ;
" Rabindranath became ill on 29th July in the evening all on a sudden, and the programme scheduled to be at New Empire. Fresh notice will be issued for this programme."
        

Rabindranath and Bisarjan

In the last year ( 1922) during the "Barsha Mangal  Utsab" the plan for staging the drama, "Bisarjan", in Calcutta was adopted. Rabinfdranath wrote this to Ranu Adhikari   on 9th Shraban 1329 (1922);
" We are discussing to stage the drama Bisarjan this time."
But during Puja (Saradotsab) they staged "Rinshod" . In the next year there was an announcement by Anada Bazar Patrika on 29th June, " Rabindranath will stage the drama "Bisarjan" to develop fund for Viswabharati and Rabindranath will play the role of "Raghupati". The rehearsal began in Jorasanko. Sita Devi wrote;
" Preparations for staging "Bisarjan" started from this date. One day Pratima Devi    invited me in a tea party which I attend and saw the rehearsal. My two cousins, Hemanta and Asoke also participated in the rehearsla. Hemanta took the role of a villager and Asoke took the role of Chandpal. Rabindranath acted in the role of Raghupati. I saw him in a new type of role which I have never seen. I have seen him  on the stage in different roles several times which does not seem to be acting. It seemed that the character is expressing himself through the mouth of Rabindranath. But the role of Raghupati was something new ."
That was in the rehearsal only. On stage Rabindranath didnot play the role of Raghupati.
Ranu accompanied Rabindranath in the journey to Shillong  during summer vacation.  But she did not return to Banaras after finishing the journey, She stayed in calcutta to take a  role in Bisarjan. Rabindranath selected her in the role of Aparna. .Ranu was not a good actress  Many of her co actors were concern about her acting.
Mira Devi wrote to her son Nitindranath in  England. "We did not go to Bolpur as Bisarjan will be staged in Calcutta. Only the players of Calcutta are acting in the drama. There are none from Bolpur. my father acting in the role of Raghupati , Dada is Govindmanikya, Saumya is Joysingha , Sangha Bauthan is Gunabati and Ranu is Aparna. Tatar our relative is acting of the small boy so nicely. Only the acting of Ranu is not upto the standard otherwise all are acting well. Rabindranath took Ranu with him when he went Santiniketan to maintain her practice in acting. Prasanta Chandra asked Rathindra on 3rd July;
" How the rehearsal is going ? Did Ranu improve ?"
But finally in the stage Rabindranath did not act in the Role of Raghupati, he played the role of Joy Singha. But earlier he always took the role of Raghupati as many times it was staged.
Before staging the drama he edited the book ( vide Ms 134[i] ) in ruled exercise book . On the left mar-zine
he put the addition and alteration and the stage directions. From the first edition the the characters Hasi, tata [Dhruba], and Kedareshwar were again brought back. Another role Vivek, as in Jatra, was added. Inenglish it is called World Mother.
This new character he introduced when he came close to Sahana [Jhunu] Bose. She wrote;
" Rabindranath added ten more songs added a new role for me to sing this song among these songs he wrote three songs earlier;
1. Ogo purabasi,
2. Ami ekla chalechi E bhabe,
3. Thakte ar to parly ne ma  parli kai.
From the old collection he took the songs; - Timira Duara kholo, Ar din phuralo he sangsari, . these two songs  and he construcyed 5 more songs.
1. O amar andhar bhalo,
2. Kon bhiru ke bhay dekhabi,
3. Andhar raate ekla tagal,
4. Amar jabar bela pichu dake,
5. Joy Joy parama niskriti, he name nami.
Sahana wrote that these 5 songs he taught her in the sitting room of the 2nd floor of Maharsi Bhavan.
When Rabindranath came to learn that the song " Din phuralo he sangsari" is known to her, he decidecd to include that. This song she learnt from her maternal aunt  which she collected from a house of a marriage party. This is based on classical tuning. On hearing this song from her maternal aunt Rabindranath instantaneously put words to this tuning. But he thought this song will vanish at the death of sahana's matrnal aunt.


        

Rabindranath and Bankim Chandra

Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay  (26 June 1838  – 8 April 1894).
The fourteenth annual conference of Bangiya Sahitya Sammelan was held at Kanthal Para of Naihati, the birth place of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Maharaja of Bardhaman Bijoy Chand Mahtab presided over the conference and Haraprasad Sashtri was the president of  Reception Committee.
Bijoychand Mahtab

His rule started in 1887 and lasted till 1941. It was the longest in the Bardhaman Raj. In 1887, he was only six years old. Therefore, the Court of Wards along with the Diwani-i-Raj, Banbehari Kapoor, ruled up to 1902. During the later part of the rule, there were allegations of financial corruption. Coupled with mismanagement, the affairs of the Raj were in shambles. In 1893, the title of ‘Raja’ was bestowed on Banbehari Kapoor. The government permitted the raj in 1897 to maintain an armed force of 600 people and 41 cannons. In 1899, Vijay Chand Mahtab passed the entrance examination of Calcutta University, and was the first in the Raj family to obtain a formal educational qualification.
At the earnest request of Haraprasad Sashtri, Rabindranath came to Naihati with Nihar Ranjan Roy [1903-1981] in his car on the first day of the conference, 23 Jun. at about 3 pm he reached the stage of the conference when he was accorded warm welcome. at the request of the president Rabindranath said something on "Bankim Chandra and Present Literautre". Though his lecture was brief, the audience got it spellbound. It was published in the minutes of the 14th Conference in Book form written by Jnanendranath Sashtri. ananda Bazar Patrika on 27th June reported the gist of his lecture which shows the respect he had on Bankim Chandra.
  

"Raktakarabi" and Rabindranath (contd-2)

There are more than 10 manuscript written, edited or amended for "Raktakarabi" . Now it is difficult to comment how many of them are written in Shillong
1st draft - no marking.
2nd draft - Ms 151 (v) - 116 pages copybook [ 109 pages written] in " Students Exercise Book, No. 5" -                            
                                      prepared in Calcutta.
3rd Draft - [ 151 (iii) & 151 (iv)] -  ,,    ,,  . Specially made for / The Kamala Agency.../ Shillong. 
                                      total page no, 60 and 54- written 59 and 48. Probably these two copybooks were     
                                     bought from Shillong and used in Shillong.
Rabindranath wrote to Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis on 12th June; "I have almost completed the drama. 
                                    But I donot know whether it can be called a drama or not. I shall go to Calcutta very 
                                    very soon when you will be able to listen it. I don't want to read it earlier in 
                                    Rammohan Library."
He wrote that he read it in Shillong. Hem Chattopadhyay wrote, " He read some pages of "Raktakarabi" 
                                   before us. It is difficult to say if there is any magic in his reading. We became moved to hear that.
The 2nd draft was published in "Collection of Rabindrabiksha" in Shraban issue.The main thing is the name Nandini is first used in this draft in place of "Khanjani". [ In some pages " Sunanda" was used.]. An introduction was given in this draft.to introduce the Drama. The name of the flower "Raktakarabi" was used twice in this draft - the first was at the begining " Amake manabe na, ami parechi Raktakarabi" the 2nd time was at the beginning  of the fight "tomar oi Raktakarabir mala dao amake pariye".
The first draft was started with the dialogue of Phagulal and Chandra and the draft was started with the dialogue of Raja and Nandini.
The third draft was published in Rabindrabiksha Paus issue. It was started with the dialogue of Prof. and Nandini.
Some new songs were added to these three drafts..
In Shillong Rabindranath wrote one bengali essay other than Raktakarabi i.e. "Shillonger Chithi".  
The theme of Raktakarabi was Rabindranath's idea about socialism.

Rabindranath and Nazrul ( contd from 7.13.12)

II Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976)      Rabindranath (1861 -1941) Nazrul started a bi-weekly magazine, publishing the first "Dhumketu" "ধূমকেতু" (Comet) on August 12, 1922. Earning the moniker of the "rebel poet”, Nazrul also aroused the suspicion of British authorities. A political poem published in "Dhumketu" in September 1922 led to a police raid on the magazine's office and arrested Nazrul . On April 14, 1923 he was transferred from the jail in Alipore to Hooghly in Kolkata, he began a 40-day fast to protest mistreatment by the British jail superintendent. 
Rabindranath dedicated his song drama "Basanta" on this occasion and send a copy of the book to Nazrul in the jail with the help of his dear friend Pabitra Gangopadhyay On seeing this the sentry of the jail became astonished and uttered himself, " Tagore has dedicated a book to this prisoner." On this day (14 April 1923,
 1 Baishakh, 1330) Nazrul was shifted from Alipore to Hooghly jail and  was dressed as an ordinary prisoner in Naihati station. He began hunger strike in protest against the ill-treatment of the jail authorities for an indefinite period. The Government tried to suppress the news but after two weeks Ananda Bazar Patrika published the news on 28th April. In the name of shifting Nazrul from Alipore Centrall Jail to Berhampore Jail he was  shifted to an ordinary jail at Hooghly. Rabindranath was at Shillong at that time. Dr. Biswanath Roy wrote, " The litterateur friends of Nazrul became anxious at the report  of the deteriorating condition of his health and approached to Rabindranath for taking initiative. Pabitra Gangopadhyay wrote ; " it was decided to write to Rabindranath to Shillong to request him to give up hunger strike. But the letter of the poet make them feel helpless because he wrote [the letter was not available] that if an ideal person is asked to give up his ideals, it is tantamount to ask him to suicide.If he dies due to hunger strike, his truth and ideal will leave for ever." The same attitude was expressed when he wrote to Sarat Chandra after the confiscation of his book "Pather Dabi". 
But he wrote to Rathindranath in a letter which expressed separately.  he wrote;
" I sent a telegram to Nazrul at the address of Alipore Central Jail asking him " give up hunger strike, our literature claims you" - but the jail sent me a mail that "the addressee not found which meant that they did not want to give him my message - because the address of Nazrul should be known to them. in other words they did  not want to stand in the way of his committing suicide. Nazrul broke his hunger strike after 40 days on 23rd May,1923 in the morning.      

( video) "Raktakarabi" and Rabindranath (contd-1)

Rabindranath explained the inner sense of Raktakarabi in many places. The first one is evident in the name of "Natya Parichaya" in the  2nd manuscript of Raktakarabi kept in the Rabindrabhavan Ms 151 (v), which is incorporated in the published book "Raktakarabi" in unaltered form. He described here the place of occurrence  and main characters of the drama and commenting  it as a real picture he said; " this is sufficient to say that it is true to my belief and knowledge." The biographer of Rabindranath informed, "  Radhakamal Mukhopadhyay was present in Shillong this time. He met  the poet off and on. He had just came from Bombay visiting different industries and the conditions of the labours there in his own eyes which he narrated as a story telling to Rabindranath. Radhakamal said that the poet listened his story patiently. But he didnot know at that time that the poet is collecting materials for a drama." He referred  in the note " Prof. Radhakamal told him about this at Lucknau .
It is to be mentioned that there is a character of a Professor known as "theoretician"..
It is assumed that he began writing the draft of the nameless  first manuscript just after the delivery of his letter dated 11th May 1923 to Amiya Chakraborty, sometimes at the middle of  May 1923. There
are 9 manuscripts of Raktakarabi kept in the Rabindrabhavan.  Apart from this there are another two manuscripts,    

(video) "Raktakarabi" and Rabindranath

Rabindranath Tagore (left), Maurice Gwyer and Amiya Chakravarty, poet's secretary (right) conversing after the Nobel laureate was conferred D Litt (honoris causa) by the Oxford University at a special convocation in Santiniketan, near Calcutta, on January 01, 1940.

" I would have been glad if you would have come to Shillong this time. I am much better now. I have completed an article for Viswabharati in the form of a paragraph. I have an idea of writing something like a drama. Do you stay in Calcutta during vacation ? If you do some translation of my writing then that may be published in Viswabharati after editing. 

"Something like a drama" is the first manuscript of "Raktakarabi". The main theme of the drama was gradually developing within his mind in the form of a nucleus for a long time since 1920-21 when Rabindranath wrote a letter from New York to Dinendranath in a picture post-card of  ' Flowing oil Well, Shreveport, - La - II " ;

"  Look at the picture attentively. It - dark chamber of kerosene oil - ( video collected from  internet ). Beneat this there is oil and at the top there is smoke . This is the condition of the owner of  crore of rupees who are themselves covered by the smokes. Sun rays never reach their eyes. Bali Raja was the king of the capital city of netherworld. His strength was stolen by a dwarf man sent by god. Bishnu being younger moved the elder. now the time has come. Those who were backward are going to occupy the property of the stronger - the stronger is now trembling in fear, constructing walls on all its sides - but the property of the vices will not last anymore."

He wrote to Andrews on 14th Jan 1921;

" To me, humanity is rich and large and many sided. Terefore, I feel deeply hurt when I find that, for some material gain, man's personality is mutilated in the western world and he is reduced to a machine . The same process of repression and curtailment of humanity is often advocated in our country under the name of patriotism.          

Rabindranath in Shillong (contd-1)

More reports were available about the the journey of Rabindranath.Mira Devi informed his son Nitindranath staying in England in a letter;
" The daughter of Arunendranath Latika was in Shillong with her brother, Ajitendranath and her  children. Poupee was still small in size in comparison with others of her age. But in intelligence she was not lesser than anyone else. She can only utter the words Dada,Mama, Baba etc. but can understand any word astonishingly.She loves to listen music. She used to sit on the lap of my father, Rabindranath, and hears songs sung by him and moves her hand. The song "Aaju sab amua bole" is very favourite to her. On hearing this song, she begins to move her hand so rapidly that it causes laughter to anyone who looks it. On seeing her movement, my father says that she will learn how to dance."  

Rabindranath in Shilong for a change - 1923

This year summer vacation of Viswabharati started on and from 26th April, 1923. Rabindranath wrote a letter to his grandson Nitindranath, at present resident of England on 16th Aug,1923;
" It was too much hot here during summer and we went to Shillong this year." They had a plan to go to Dehradoon but since Dr. Devendranath Chattopadhyay, husband of his niece Manisha, got a rented house at Rs.200/- in Jitbhum , they decided to go to Shillong. "

The team, going to Shillong, was a big one. It included the grand daughter of Rabindranath Nandita (Buri), Ranu, Rathindranath, Pratima Devi and  adopted child Nandini (Poupee) and Gretchen Green.
They started for Shillong via Calcutta. Dr. Pranay Kumar Kundu informed ;
" The poet went to Shillong with his team to take rest before the summer vacation of the school started on 26th April, 1923". He also added ; " The poet himself stayed in one room, Mira Devi and Ranu stayed in a room adjacent to Rabindranath's room, Pratima Devi and Nandini stayed in a room opposite to Rabindranath's room. At this time at the ground floor stayed an American woman Green."
Pratima Devi went out for walk with the girls everyday. Near to this Jitbhum (banglo) there is the house of the King of Mayurbhanj, where Sucharu Devi stayed with Dhrubendra and her daughter Cici with whom Ranu was well acquainted. They used to walk together frequently.
Gretchen wrote about this journey;
" ....at Shillong, the hill city of Assam, the poet and his family have taken a house and borrowed another for me.The house has seven sides opening on a terrace.Seven gardeners salaam each morning with seven nosegays. I triffle with the Poet's correspondence, picnic with Protima near a waterfall, nurse the ill children of three gardener, and hold daily receotions, none of which justify this so perfect existence.
My neighbour is the Maharani of Mayurbhanjawhose virtue and wisdom are far above her rubies, the daughter of a great leader of Brahmo Samaj [Keshab Chandra Sen]."
At that time Satish Chandra Roy, working in the Indian Education Service, came to Shillong during Summer vacation to pass his leisure time. he often visited Rabindranath.        

Good bye to Andree Karpeles [1885-1956]

the French painter Andree Karpeles [1885-1956] left Santiniketan. Nirmalkumari Mahalanobis wrote in her book,
 " Kabir sange Europe" The recently constructed song

" Bharathak Smriti Sudhay bidayer patrakhani" was sung in his farewell meeting. The poet wrote this song on this occasion. This song was published in Jaistha-issue of Prabasi.
Ananda Bazar  Patrika wrote on this occasion;
" Kumari Andree Karpeles was a painter of France. The son-in-law of Rabindranth Pratima Devi established an "Art Institution" with her help for the welfare of women in Bengal.The maiden Karpeles visited from village to village and became pleased to see the necessity of forming art institution in villages of Bengal. She was trying to revive the wooden and earthen handicraft of Bengal in modern linesalong with Nandalal Basu and Pratima Devi. Paitings and needle works on clothes was an old art of Bengal. She also wanted to develop that art. She is going to his land before  and will again come back to Santiniketan before the winter sets in."
It was not possible for Andree to come to Santiniketan again.

Rabindranath and Ranu Adhikari -1923

Rabindranath was planning to go to Deradoon with his full family during summer vacation. In the mean time, without giving any information Ranu Adhikari came to Santiniketan from Banaras on 21st April, 1923. Rabindranath, on that very day, wrote to her father;
" sitting on my desk I was setting tune to a new song. But we cannot identify the song. I saw Ranu on all a sudden behind me.I asked her whether she has come without informing you. She replied, yes, but with permission and with a company. So, you need not inform the police. I became pleased to see her and  shall not send her to Banaras just now. We are going to Deradoon . She will go along with us. To speak you frankly, she has no objection. She posses bonding with me for lifes to come and preceding.
The eldest daughter of Phanibhusan, Asha, got a scholarship from Allahabad University and wanted to learn Sanskrit from the German guest lecturer Vinternitz and got admission in Viswabharati University.
Rabindranath's journey to Deradoon was cancelled.  alomng with Ranu.They went to Shilong along with Ranu.      

On 2nd Baishakh at about 7 am the 2nd  meeting of the Council of under the Chairmanship of Rabindranath was held. Many important persons were present at the meeting and some serious resolutions were adopted in the meeting.
On 4th and 5th Rabindranath constructed two songs. One on 4th was ; " Agnishikha eso eso ana ana" for the Girl's guide in Santiniketan named as " Sahayika".

On 5th Baishakh he wrote, "aay re mora phasal kati phasal kati".constructed for Surul village Reconstruction Programme. This song was printed in Santiniketan
The musical note of the two songs were written by one of the favourite student of Dinendranath namely Anadi Kumar Dastidar [1903-1974].
Rabindranath did his meditation in temple in the morning of 5th Baishakh and that was published in Agrahayan-issue of Santiniketan, 1330. He mentioned in his speech;
" A few days ago I went to Kalighat , saw the distressed condition of "Adiganga" and became sad. The river has lost its life by the sedimentation of alluvium and refuse, The flow of the river is no more for sailing ships or boats . It has lost its power of communication to sea and by that way lost its dignity of being a sacred one. When its flow was alive the merchants went to Ceylon,  Gujrat and other places business - it was like a sacred thread of friendship of man of this country to some other countries. That was why it was termed a sacred one. Now it has lost its dignity. Santiniketan will fill up the blanks and establish friendship between the countries of the world. ...."   

Foundation Stone of the guest house of Foreign Professors Laid-1923

Sir Ratan Tata Trust came into being in 1919 with a sum capital of Rs 8 million. Established in accordance with the will of Sir Ratan Tata, the Trust is now one of the oldest grant bestowing foundations in India
The Trust has, for more than a century, been instrumental in development processes, providing grants to institutions in the areas of Education, Enhancing Civil Society and Governance, Health and Arts, Rural Livelihoods and Communities and Culture
According to Rabindranath, "civilisation means,  discovery of ownself amongst others."
Once it was a cry of the universe that "sacrifice for your country, your nation." The result was a nation was gradually gathering wealth by exploiting other nations and indulged this way of doing things. But this sin-full activities took the shape of a world war.The whole Europe became alert by viewing a specter. But this is the new era, an era of of union between two nations, between all nations." Yatra Biswang Bhabatyekniram" and this is the main hymn of Viswabharati."
On the same day, 1st Baishakh, 1330 (14th April 1923), a foundation stone of a guest house of foreign lecturers in Santiniketan  was laid by the Prof. of Comparative Literature of Calcutta University, Dr.I. Jehangir Tarapourwala [1884-1956]. All the teachers and students including Gurudev of Santiniketan participated the occasion . Ratan Tata Trust of Bombay contributed Rs. 25,000/- for this guest house.                    

Constitution of Viswabharati registered on 16th May 1922

 (Board of Directors)
After a lot of discussions the Constitution of Viswabharati   was registered under the Act XXI of 1860, certificate no. is 751. The " Memorandom of association / Statutes and Regulations" was available in a booklet of 36 pages, price 4 annas. Governing Body, Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, academic Council, Professors Council, Mahila Samity, Surul Agricultutral Board, Recognised Local Bodies, and different approved bodies, the Administrative Board of Viswabharati will be formed.    The Founder Chancellor is Rabindranath Tagore. his tenure of service is his life-long unless he himself resigned from the post. the Treasurer is Dwipendranath tagore and Joint Working Secretaries are 1. Rathindranath Tagore, and 2. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. The Heads are, King of Pithapuram, Jagadish Chandra Basu, Brajendranath Seal, and Andrews.
Founder honourary members ;
Michael Sadler, Sylvain Levi, and m.annesaki of Japan.
Members of the Board of Trustees;
Rabindranath, Dwipendranath, Surendranath, Rathindranath, Nilratan Sircar, Ramananda Chattopadhyay, Hirendranath Dutta, and Pramatha Choudhury,
First Karmadhakshas are Secretary of the Ashram Jagadananda Roy, Surul Secretary Elmhirst, Uttar Bivager Adhineta Bidhushekhar Sashtri, and Purba Bivager Adineta- Santosh Chandra Majumdar; First Board of Directors are; Karmakarta, Pradhan, Karmadhyaksha, and members; Gaganendranath, Nepal Chandra Roy, Sisir Kumar Moitra, etc.
In this document the movable and immovable properties are mentioned as follows;
     

Rabindranath and Nagendranath Gangopadhyay (contd-4)

By the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor , Ashutosh Mukherjee of Calcutta University, Nagendranath Gangopadhyay was appointed against the post of Guruprasad Singh Professor of Agriculture of Calcutta University on a monthly salary of Rs 500/- only of the Khayra Fund on and from 1st Dec 1921. Rabindranath was one the member of the Khayra Fund. He might have some influence on this appointment indirectly if not directly.Ashutosh Mukhopadhya gave importance to the opinion of Rabindranath in the stale met situation of Calcutta University during the Non-Cooperation movement. In regard to this appointment, Rabindranath wrote to Nagendranath  ;
" I hope by this time you have joined the post."
Nagendranath, with his high ambition, was prfessionally established and got a quarter in Ballygunge campus of the University. But due to his offending nature he could not establish expected familiar relationship with Mira Devi.
Nagendranath Gangopadhyay along with his son Nitindranath sailed for England on 19th March 1923 in the same  ship where Pearson traveled to England.
Alternative names of Nagendranath Gangopadhyay;

Gangali, Nagendra Nath.

Gangali, Nagendra Nath, 1889-

Gangali, Nagendra Nath 1889-1954

Gangopadhyay, Nagendranath.

Gangopadhyay, Nagendranath, 1889-

Gangopadhyay, Nagendranath 1889-1954

Gāngopādhyāya, Nagendra-nātha.

Gaṅgopādhyāya, Nagendra-nātha, 1889-

Gaṅgopādhyāya, Nagendrānātha 1889-1954

Gangulee, N.

Gangulee, N. 1889-1954

Gangulee, N. (Nagendra Nath), 1889-

Gangulee, N. (Nagendranath), 1889-

Gangulee, Nagendra Nath.

Gangulee, Nagendra Nath, 1889-

Gangulee, Nagendra Nath 1889-1954

Gangulee, Nagendranath, 1889-

Nagendra Nath Gangali.

Nagendra Nath Gangali, 1889-

Nagendra Nath Gangali 1889-1954

Nagendra Nath Gangulee.

Nagendra Nath Gangulee, 1889-

Nagendra Nath Gangulee 1889-1954

Nagendra-nātha Gāngopādhyāya.

Nagendra-nātha Gaṅgopādhyāya, 1889-

Nagendranath Gangopadhyay.

Nagendranath, Gangopadhyay, 1889-

Nagendranath Gangopadhyay 1889-1954

Nagendrānātha Gaṅgopādhyāya 1889-1954