The Bengali Polymath and his Gujarat Connection

He is a man with distinctive appearance. Those insightful eyes along with his long hair and beard takes us to the world where a person’s mind is working without any fear. A Noble laureate poet, novelist, electric philosopher, accomplished artist and musician, and a passionate political activist are few of the tags attached to the Rabindranath Tagore. As we are celebrating his 162^nd birth anniversary today, let’s talk about his interesting connection with the city of Ahmedabad.

Tagore’s Stay in Ahmedabad

Rabindranath Tagore had visited Gujarat when he was 17 years old, which is in year 1878. His elder brother Satyendranath was appointed as the first Indian Civil Service officer; Commissioner of Ahmedabad at that time. While Rabindranath Tagore’s visit in city, he stayed at the Motisahi Palace built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1622 AD. The palace is now known as the Sardar Patel Memorial Bhawan which still stands tall in Shahibagh. His elder brother wanted him to go to England for further studies. He learnt English literature for six months while staying in Ahmedabad.

Ahmedabad was a city that touched his heart hence, he authored three articles based on Ahmedabad mentioning Sabarmati River in one of his writings. During his six month stay in Ahmedabad, he wrote some pages of the famous Bengali novel ‘Sudat Pashan’ (Hungry Stone) as well as two poems titled ‘Bandi O Amar’ and ‘Nelav Rajni Dekho’. Neerava rajanee joi lo (translated), was the first song that Tagore composed when he was 17, strolling on the moonlit terrace of Shah Jahan palace on the bank of the Sabarmati. The song flows quietly within the lowest octave, almost in a meditative mood.

The Art Connect

It was Mahatma Gandhi who initiated the development of arts in Gujarat. His friendship with Tagore played an important role interlinking Gujarat with the other art centres of India. He made this possible by reinforcing links between Santiniketan and Ravishankar Raval’s Gujarat Citra Kala Sangh. Gandhi had already met Nandalal Bose at Santiniketan in 1938 and had invited him to make posters for the rural crafts show at Haripura Congress convention in South Gujarat. The historical meeting of Bose and Raval led to the emergence of a truly Indian idiom which broke from the British academic art education. The Tagorean dream had touched Ravishankar Raval’s heart when he started the Gujarat Chitra Kala Sangh in his own house.

Marital Ties with the Tagore Family

Gujarat’s daughter Srimati Hutteesingh was married to the Tagore family. Srimati Hutteesingh, belonging to the Hutheesingh family of Ahmedabad, was married to Saumyendranath Tagore, grand-nephew of Rabindranath Tagore. She had studied in Visva Bharati and remained associated with the university.

When Satyendranath Tagore’s wife Jnanadanandini Devi was in Gujarat, she saw women draping the pallu of saree on their right shoulders, which she felt cumbersome and improvised the style bringing the pallu on the left shoulder.