Gandhiji and Rabindranath (contd-1)

Rabindranath came to Santiniketan on 11 Mar and saw the new arrangement of the Kitchen. His reaction as stated by Prasanta Kumar Paul was mixed. He wrote to Rathindranath;
" I was glad that you could not reach Santiniketan this time. The new arrangement in the Kitchen caused a good deal of trouble.The students have taken charge of the Kitchen as per the instruction of Gandhiji and are cooking food by themselves. This created a source of gossiping and excitement.If you would have come in this situation, new set of discussions centering round you would have started. Though the system is a bit difficult, but it has begun. This has solved some of our problems specially relating to finance.the most important thing is that it is done by our boys. Santiniketan, after long time, is getting new light, ttotally organised by the boys.The boys are getting energy and inspiration. The problem is with some of teachers. Some is eager to get your support in their line after your arrival.in this situation It is better to remain silent keeping you outside this situation.There are complexity but it will be solved in due course."
Rabindranath was concerned only with study of the students which , in his opinion, should not be disturbed. 
Gandhiji, too, could understand the contradictions  between the ideologies. For that reason, he was arranging to shift the students of Phinix Vidyalaya and again came back to Santiniketan on 31st mar in the night. Rabindranath also came yesterday. They had discussions for the next two days.on 3rd April, Gandhiji wrote in his diary;
"  Last meeting with boys and with Gurudev as Chairman, kept Maganlal and Ramdas at Bolpur to help in the Kitchen. left for Hardwar with the rest."
The students of Phinix Vidyalata started for Hardwar with Gandhiji leaving Santiniketan.They stayed for some time in Gurukul Vidyalaya and then went to Kochrab near Ahmedabad . Phinix Vidyalay was shifted  after  Satyagraha Asram being there.established

Gandhiji and Rabindranath

Gandhiji went to Santiniketan along with his wife Kasturba on 17th Feb, evening. The details of their visit were described by a students, Prafulla Chandra Choudhury, in his article "Arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi at Bolpur" and Sudhakanta Roychoudhury in "Asrame Sreeyukta Mohanchand Karamchand Gandhi O tar Sahadharmani" . 

But Rabindranath was not present on the occasion as he was in Calcutta. He wrote to Andrews 0n 18th Feb.; "I hope Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi have arrived in Bolpur, and Santiniketan has accorded them such a welcome as befits her and them.I shall convey my love personally to them when we meet."

Gandhiji could not stay because he went to Pune at the news of sudden death of Gopal Krishna Gokhale on 19th Feb.

Rabindranath came to Santiniketan on 22 Feb and wrote Gandhiji a letter. This was the first time that Rabindranath wrote a letter to Gandhiji;

" Dear Mr.Gandhi,

That you could think of my school as the right and the likely place where your Phoenix boys could take shelter when they are in India has given me great pleasure -- and that pleasure has been greatly enhanced when I saw those dear boys in that place . We all feed that their influence will be great value to our boys and I hope that they in their turn will gain something which will make their stay in Santiniketan fruitful. I write this letter to thank you for allowing your boys to become our boys as well and thus form a living link in the Sadhana of both of our lives./Very  Sincerely yours."

Having learnt the death news  of Gokhale Gandhiji went to Pune on 20th Feb. he again came to Santiniketan on 6th march. This time he first met Rabindranath. 

Gandhiji wrote in his diary on 8th Mar, "Gurudev left for Calcutta. Had a talk with Andrews about his conduct." Gandhiji left for Calcutta en route to Rangoon. Gandhiji wrote;

" I am habituated to be mixed up with the teachers and the students . I went there and discussed with them about self-reliance.If the students and the teachers cook their food by themselves instead of the paid cooks, It is much better, if it maintains the health of your stomach, is controlled by the teachers and the students become self-sufficient and get the lesson of cooking their own food. I said the teachers about this. Some of them nodded their heads . Some appreciated the experiment." On enquiry about the opinion of Rabindranath, he opined if the teachers would agree to this, he should be glad and said to the students, "this is the way to Swaraj ".

Practice of one's self-energy was the basis of social reform of Rabindranath. 
       

Honour of Knighthood to Rabindranath - Feb. 1915

Rabindranath halted at Calcutta for some few days more the reasons of which he explained in a letter written to Adrews on 18th Feb; " Waiting for Lord Carmichael, hoping to see him tomorrow./Calcutta will keep me till Sunday.I do not hope to free myself from its clutches before that though I shall try. Anyhow, Monday will see me in Bolpur, somewhat feeble and worn-out, unfit to be trusted with any responsibility". Possibly, the meeting was arranged at the initiative of Lord Carmichael. He wrote to Rathindranath from Silaidah ; " Governor will arrive on 19th and our meeting was arranged 2/3 days after his arrival. Is the initial of Gourlay illegible? Perhaps, it is W.R. - if I'm correct.Anyway, you post the letter to his address which I've sent to you. " Gourlay was the private secretary of the Governor. The intention of the governor was , probably, expressed in his letter.Rabindranath also invited Carmichael to visit Santiniketan which he also accepted.

In the mean time, one man from Viceroy's Lodge wrote to Andrews on 16th Feb, marked private . " A suggestion was made to the Viceroy some little time ago that it would be an appropriate and graceful act on the part of  His Majesty to confer a knighthood upon Rabindranah Tagore in recognition of the name he has established in India & Europe and of his genius as a poet -- The Viceroy would be very happy indeed to make a recommendation in this sense, if he thought that Rabindranath would appreciate the honor , but he hesitates to do so , because he just a shade of doubt whether Rabindranath would do so.

So he has asked me to write and entrust to you the delicate task of sounding Rabinranath on the subject -- you are so close a friend of his that I feel sure you will be able to elicit from him his real feeling in the matter...

P.S. An early answer would greatly oblige."

Rabindranath was conferred Knighthood on 3 Jun 1915, the date of birth of 5th George in recognition of the name he has established in India and Europe and of his genius as a poet.

Rabindranath Tagore discarded this Title of Knighthood for the inhuman act of British Government in Jallianwalabag in 1919. Gopal Krishna Gokhale refused to accept the same title on political reason.

It is to be mentioned  here that

Lord Hardinge had deep regard for Rabindranath and he declared Rabindranath, before receiving Nobel Prize, as the "Poet Laureate of Asia". Rabindranath was also grateful to him for it was due to his circular that the wards of Government servant could not study in the School at Santiniketan was revoked.

      

Rabindranath again at Silaidah

Rabindranath could not attend the memorial event of Maharshi Devendranath due to his extreme tiredness and determined to go to Silaidah for a change in natural environment. He also wrote to Andrews on 29th Jan,1915; "I don't like to frighten you with news of ill-health, but it must be given to justify my absence from the Asram. I feel that I am on the brink of a breakdown. I must take a flight to the solitude of the river Padma leaving Rathi and Bouma to make arrangements for our departure. I need rest and the nursing of nature."

Andrews was also sick. On 31st Jan. Rabindranath wrote," I hear that you are really ill.This is won't do  Come to Calcutta. Consult some Doctor;    and if he recommends, come to Silaidah, where I am going to-morrow morning . I dare not go to Bolpur. I have reached such a sublime depth of tiredness."

Rabindranath started for Silaidah on 1st Feb, 1915 and on reaching there he wrote to Rathindranath on the next day, " As soon as I have reached Silaidah my extreme tiredness and and mental fatigueness  disappeared.. I am feeling better which I didn't feel for long time. I was going throughout the world in search of this but I have forgotten that my satisfaction remained at my door. "

Rabindranath emphasized the statement of the  letter written to Rathindranath and expressed the same in the letter written to Andrews;

" Directly I reached here, I came to myself, and now healed. The cure for all these illness of life is stored in the inner depth of life itself, the  access to which becomes possible when we are alone. This solitude is a world in itself, full of wonders and resources unthought of. It is so absurdly near, yet so unapproachable     

distant." Andrews also went Silaidah on 5th Feb, 1915. Rabindranath wrote to his son ;

" Andrews arrived here like a storm and went away with the same speed."

Rabindranath wrote 12 poems in .Silaidah in 5 days.

On 7th Feb., he wrote a poem, " Pakhire diyecho gaan, gaay sei gaan" (published in Bharati - Chaitra issue, 1322). While explaining the poem, later on, Rabimdranth said;

" One day a poor woman was going by the side of the river on foot. She was taking with her a few children. The elder one was carrying a load on his head. The junior to him was carrying a bag in his hand. Two others small children was walking slowly by their side. The smallest one is on her lap". My mind was thinking heavily on that day. Suddenly it came to my mind - this is my pride that I am carrying the load of agony. God gives much load on the head of the elder son and take in her lap the smallest one. "The human being expect much from his elder child, and less from the younger one."

Rabindranath left Silaidah on 12th Feb.     

Rabindranath and Religion

An essay , titled "Christodharma,"  written by Rabindranath about his prayer on the day of 25th Dec 1914 (10th Paush), the birth day of Christ, in the temple of Santiniketan, was published in the magazine "Sabuj Patra". The glory of Christianity was perceived by Rabindranath after being introduced with the persons like Andrews and Stopford Brook but during his return journey to India, the behaviour of two Christian Missionaries in  the ship had hurt him. He also knew the activities of the Christian Missionaries in India.In the introduction of the Essay " Christadharma" he explained this bitterness:

" When I see that the Christians are boasting of their religion, it becomes evident they are mixing some impurity in their religion which is their own made. For this reason when they  come to help us, we hesitate to accept blessings from them  because self-consciousness grows against their vanity and if the pride prevents one to accept any gift, it is not   unworthy."

Of course, he knew  that the communal feeling is not  its monopoly. The small sect of  Adi-Brahmo Samaj is not also  free from  this evil.( vide the essay "Adi-Brahmo Samajer Bedi"). He also said;

" Now it is the duty of human being to save the Christ from the hands of communal Christians, to save Bishnu  hands of Communal Vaishnabs, to save Brahma from the hands of Communal Brahmos, In our Asram we shall not contradict the truth in rage with our sect. We shall try to understand the meaning of Christianity- not because it is the religion of Christians but because  it is the religion of Human being."

The Biographer of Rabindranath found his indifferent state of mind in this poem.
Andrews wrote on 15 Dec, "I can see so clearly now....how I should have done injury to your love for me also if you had not been so firm and true and patient and gentle with me and what you really wanted from me. for now I see that you were really asking all all the while for something far deeper and truer and more manly from me than the weak, emotional, and almost selfish love which I was offering."
In reply to this letter, Rabindranth wrote on 18th Dec from Allahabad;
"I do not know how to heal the hurts that painfully surprise my friends when in their intercourse with me they stumble against fences that can never be removed. Surely you know by this time that I have something elusive in me, which eludes myself not less than others. Because of this in my nature, I have to keep my environments free and open, fully to make room in my life for the undreamt-of who is expected every moment. Believe me , I have strong human sympathy, yet I can never enter into such relations with others as many impede the current of my life,  which flows through the darkness of solitude beyond my ken. I can love, but I have not that which is termed by phrenologists "adhesiveness", or to be more accurate, I have a force acting in me, jealous of all attachments, a force that tries to win me for itself, for its own hidden purpose."
On 27th Dec Rabindranath translated his speech on Jesus Christ. 
On 29th Dec. Rabindranath wrote to Rothensteion;
" I send you the translation of a poem of mine suggestd by the letter I got from Rachel. It gave me the right perspective and I saw all the simple things of the world in their proper significance inspite of the din and smoke of this terrible war."           

Rabindranath and 1st World War

After visiting for 2 to 3 days in Allahabad, Rabindranath started for Bolpur on 20th December,1914 (5th Paush) and reached Santiniketan on 21st December (6th Paush) to celebrate 24th anniversary of Paush Utsab. He wrote a poem on that day, " Arochai je, Aro chai go.." In explaining the meaning of  the song, Rabindranath remembered 1st World War (1914-1918) that took place in Europe. But the idealistic poet Rabindranath  did not forget to see the progress of the Human society even in this inhuman war and said;

"Once you think and feel that the moment we are enjoying our festival, the people beyond the ocean are involved in terrible battle Could the morning sun light see the terror of the destruction. Standing on this horror the man is describing its glory - at the call of the history the people have come out of their abodes. Who is right and who is wrong - who is responsible and who is not are out of their agenda. But at the call of the history -- the Germany have come, the English have come, the French, the Beljium,  the Austrian and the Russian have come.The God of Time is accepting its homage through the traces of history. This battle is celebrating its festival. of war.

The command of the King of the History is - " it can't be that a nation could make its nationalism  narrow by continuously accumulating own interest. The human being was so long sacrificing human body to the deity of  the  interest of its own country. The order of the day is to demolish the pagoda of the evil spirit of narrow nationalism. The God of the eternity ordered today that the sacrifice of the human body will no longer continue and the duty of every body is to destroy the temple of the self-centered nationalism and make it flat. Henceforth there will be no sacrifice of human body. As soon as this instruction was issued cannon ball was hurled on the walls of the narrow nationalism. The thunder of the cannon has blown the song of victory of the humanity."

Rabindranath might have visualised the victory of democracy against the fascism.

       

     

Financial position after winning Nobel prize by Rabindranath

The economic stringency in Santiniketan was removed to some extent from the interest obtained from the money of the Nobel Prize deposited in a bank.The professors quarters and common kitchen of the school were constructed from the royalty of the books written by Rabindranath. But the demand of more money was still prevailing. Rabindranath wrote to Andrews in this respect on 12 Nov,1914;

" I know the school financial difficulties are good for us, but I must have strength enough to extract good....The whole Asram must rouse itself from its passive inanity and be ready to meet the danger ,... Even the little boys should not be kept entirely ignorant of our difficulties . They should be proud of the fact that they also bear their own share of the responsibility."

But when the students took some decisions of their own, Rabindranath himself stood in the way of the decision.

Due to the 1st World War (1914-1918) the price of Jute had come down specially in East Bengal. as a result, they had scarcity of rice. There were more students in Santiniketan coming from East Bengal. They had witnessed the sufferings in East Bengal when they went home during Puja Vacation.After coming over here they conveyed a meeting under the chairmanship of Nepal Chandra Roy to form a Relief Fund. This news was published in Modern Review in Dec. under the title, "A Noble Example" which read as;

" The boys of Babu Rabindranath Tagore's school at Bolpur have opened a relief fund. They have invited subscriptions t o their fund, to be sent to Mr. W.W.Pearson, Santiniketan, P.O., In addition to what the boys can personally contribute, they have in a body resolved to save Rs.40 a month not consuming sugar.

This amount will go to the relief fund. By not consuming Ghee for three months they will be able to contribute Rs.500 to their relief fund."

Having read this news Rabindranath wrote to Andrews from Agra on 5th Dec;

"I am surprised to read to read in the Modern Review that our Bolpur boys are going without sugar and ghee in order to open a relief fund. Do you think this is right?"

The same thing he wrote to Nagendranath from Allahabad on 16 Dec.;

" From the Paper I came to learn that our boys have given up to take sugar and ghee for their relief fund. This is just a carbon copy of foreign student. But this is very easy. It is to be remembered that the boys are not independent about their food. Which one they can give up and which not that they cannot decide. If they decide that they will stop reading and stop buying books. The money collected from that fund they will donate. Are they eligible to do that. No, they are not. Rather they can save money by donating their labour in digging ponds, wells , constructing roads, bridges and can donate the amount."

The boys then did that as per advice of Rabindranath and sent the money saved.