Rabindranath Tagore’s early life

Subha Addy

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was the youngest son of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore (1817–1905) and Sarada Devi (1830–1875). Debendranath was a prominent philosopher and a religious reformer, and a leader of the Brahmo Samaj. The Brahmo Samaj was a monotheistic sect of Hinduism. The movement began through meetings of Bengalis in Calcutta in 1828. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, one of the leading figures active in the movement, was a friend of Debendranath. Debendranath became the central figure in Brahmo Samaj after Roy's death. He was addressed as “Maharshi” out of respect by followers. He continued to lead the” Adi Brahmo Samaj” until he died.

Rabindranath, affectionately addressed as Robi, was born at No.7 Dwarkanath Tagore Lane, Jorasanko, in his family mansion, known as ”Thakur Bari” ,situated in north Calcutta,(Kolkata)-- then British India. He was born at a time when three very important movements were taking place in Bengal,-- the religious movement By Raja Ram Mohan Roy ,the literary revolution by Bankim Chandra Chattyopadhyay, and the Indian national movement, protesting the political and cultural dominance of the West. The Tagore family had actively participated in all three movements.

As a child Tagore lived amidst an atmosphere where literary magazines were published, musical recitals were held, and theatre performed. He indeed grew up at the center of a large and art-loving social group. His eldest brother Dwijendranath was a respected philosopher and poet. Another brother, Satyendranath was the first ethnically Indian member appointed to the elite and formerly all-white Indian civil service. Yet another brother Jyotirindranath was a talented musician, composer and playwright. Among the sisters, Swarnakumari Devi earned fame as a novelist in her own right.

Rabindranath affectionately called ‘Robi’ by his family, lost his mother Sharada Debi at an early age and his father travelled extensively. Robi was raised mostly by servant and maids. As mentioned by Rabindranath himself in his writings, often his care takers, for their own convenience, would keep him confined inside a chalk circle drawn by them and warned that if he stepped outside the protective boundary, he may face fearful consequences as Sita did in the story of Ramayana, when she crossed the Laxman Rekha and was kidnapped by the evil king Ravan! Little Robi, took the threat to heart and used this restrained time to entertain himself by looking out thorough the adjacent window at the large pond and an old banyan tree by its side. Later he wrote about this experience in a poem titled “Purano Bot” or the “Old Banyan Tree”.

Robi was tutored at home by his brother Hemendranath, while also being physically trained by experts. For example, swimming in the Ganges River, taking walks through hilly areas, gymnastics, and practicing judo and wrestling. He was given lessons in Bengali-language, anatomy, art, English language, geography, history, literature, mathematics, and Sanskrit before and after school by other teachers. He also was exposed to classical music and trained under famous artists of his time. Robi started writing poems around age eight, and he was encouraged by an older brother to recite these to family members, friends and acquaintances. Meanwhile, Robi was developing an aversion towards formal learning and schooling. The traditional school with its rules and standards was like a prison to him.

For the first decade or so of his life, Robi did not see much of his father, who was frequently away touring northern India, England, and other places. Meanwhile, Robi was mostly confined to the family compound. He was not allowed to leave it for any purpose other than travelling to school. He grew increasingly restless for the outside world, open spaces, and nature. On February 14, 1873, Robi had the first close contact with his father when they set out together on a long tour of India. They first travelled to Shantiniketan ("Abode of Peace") a family estate acquired in 1863 by Debendranath. This place had a couple of rooms in the middle of a mango grove and other large trees and nothing else. Rabindranath later recalled this stay and wrote,--” What I could not see did not take me long to get over—what I did see was quite enough. There was no servant rule, and the only ring that encircled me was the blue of the horizon, drawn around these solitudes by their presiding goddess. Within this I was free to move about as I chose.”

After several weeks, they traveled to Amritsar, staying near the Harmandir Sahib and worshipping at a Sikh gurudwara. Debendranath introduced his son to English and Sanskrit languages, exposed his young mind to to astronomy and biographies of historically important figures such as Benjamin Franklin. Later, in mid-April, Robi and his father set off for the remote and icy Himalayan hill station of Dalhousie, near what is now the Himachal Pradesh's border with Kashmir. There, at an elevation of some 2,300 meters (7,500 feet), they lived in a house high atop Bakrota hill. Robi was taken aback by the region's tall mountains, deep gorges, deep alpine forests, and mossy streams and sparkling waterfalls. Robi still had to keep up with his studies —starting in the frigid pre-dawn twilight. Robi took a break from his reading for a noontime meal, but thereafter, he was to continue with his studies. Some two months later, Robi was sent back to Calcutta while his father stayed back in Dalhousie.

In 1877 at the age of 16, Rabindranath composed a collection of Vaishnava lyrics in “Brajabuli”, under the pen name of “Bhanu Singha”. Some of these lyrics were published in the magazine named “Bharati” until it was published as a collection in 1884. Around the same time, he had already written his first collection of poems, “Kabi Kahini” which marked the beginning of his journey as a poet.

In early October 1878, 17-year-old Rabindranath traveled to England with the intention of becoming a barrister. He first stayed for some months at a house that the Tagore family owned near Brighton and Hove, in Medina Villa. Later his nephew and niece — Suren and Indira, the children of Robi’s brother Satyendranath, were sent together with their mother Gyanadanandini Devi, (Tagore's sister-in-law) to live with him. After spending Christmas of 1878 with his family, Rabindranath was escorted by a friend of his elder brother to London. There, his relatives hoped that he would focus more on his studies. He enrolled at University College London, where he studied law and attended lectures on English literature. However, he expressed dissatisfaction with the restraints of Western educational practices and never completed his degree, leaving England after staying just over a year. This exposure to English culture and language would later grasp his earlier familiarity with Bengali musical tradition, allowing him to create new genres of music, poetry, and drama. However, Rabindranath neither fully embraced English boundaries nor his family's conventionally firm religious practices either in his life or his art, choosing instead to pick the best from both realms of experience.

Sources: Jibonsmriti Rabindranath Tagore

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