Letters From a Sojourner in Europe
| Specifications |
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Publisher: Visva-Bharati, Kolkata |
| Author Rabindranath Tagore | |
| Language: English | |
| Pages: 201 (with B/W Illustrations) | |
| Cover: PAPERBACK | |
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8.5x5.5 Inch |
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Weight 290 gm |
| Edition: 2008 | |
| ISBN: 9788175224209 | |
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HBU084 |
| Delivery and Return Policies |
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Ships in 1-3 days |
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Returns and Exchanges accepted within 7 days |
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Free Delivery |
Of the myriad aspects in the life of Rabindranath, the
Tagore Travelogues celebrate the wayfarer in him. "I am a wayfarer of an
endless road," he said, "My greetings of a wanderer to thee!" Even
as a child, Rabindranath had yearned to see the great Outside. In his
reminiscences, he recalled being restricted in his movements; even going out of
the house was forbidden to them. "We perforce took our peeps at nature
from behind the barriers. Beyond my reach there was this limitless thing called
the Outside, of which flashes and sounds and scents used momentarily to come
and touch me through its interstices. It seemed to want to play with me through
the bars with so many gestures....' In the Post Office, Amal symbolizes his
longing for 'far-away things'. "See that far-away hill from our window - I
often long to go beyond those hills..." Rabindranath's earliest journeys
were in his mind and he has left us accounts of these as well as of the later
physical journeys in various travel writings-letters, diaries, poems, songs and
essays. All of these are in Bengali and in this series we bring these to
readers in English translations. Although Rabindranath made his first visit to
England more than 125 years ago as an unknown 17 year old lad, surprisingly, we
are able to reconstruct that visit rather accurately. This is possible mainly
because of the bunch of letters he wrote back home and also because of his
recollection of that period in his autobiographical writings. The very fact
that he devoted so many chapters of his autobiography on this visit suggests
the strong impact this visit had on him. Satyendranath Tagore, the second son
of the Maharshi was the District and Sessions Judge at Ahmedabad. His two-year
furlough to Englund was due. He had already sent his wife Jnanadanandini and
children to England to wwait his arrival there. The family at Jorasanks was
finding it difficult to accept that the youngest and most creative member of
their family, Rabindranath, was whiling away his time writing poetry! So when
Satyendranath offered to take his brother with him to England, their father,
the Maharshi, readily agreed. Rabindranath himself later recalled this event
and said he was to study in England and come back as a barrister but certain
official documents found some years back in the State Archives suggest that he
was to appear for the Civil Service examinations. However, he came back neither
as a barrister nor as a Civil Servant he remained fortunately a poet! Rabindranath
had so far lived a sheltered life in Jorasanko and except for a trip to the
Himalayas with his father had remained within the Bengal Province. So this trip
to England must have been a great event in his life. Among the preparations
that were being taken for Rabindranath's visit to England was the making of an
adequate wardrobe, jobbas, a long coat, pantaloons were stitched-records of
which have remained in the account books of the Tagores. Photographs were taken
of the young poet, possibly for official purposes. Packets of books were bought
and sent to Ahmedabad where young Rabindranath was to stay with his brother and
acquire the preliminary training and polish in British social etiquette before
embarking on his journey. He was even sent to Bombay for a month to stay with a
Maharashtrian family-that of Dr. Atmaram Pandurang Turkhud, an eminent
physician and social reformer of progressive views. His daughter Annapurna, or
Ana as she was called, was given the responsibility of giving him some practice
in conversational English. They both quite enjoyed this practice and
Rabindranath was to remember Ana all his life. He recalled in his last
reminiscences.
In 1878. Rabindranath accompanied by his brother.
Satyendranath, sailed for England. Fortunately, we get
glimpses of this trip from the letters he wrote home and which were published
serially in the family periodical, Bharati, The letters give a lively account
of the trip with Interesting details, there are accounts of his impressions of
people and events that take place. He continued to write these letters
throughout his stay and they give a frank account of English life as he saw it
in middle-class and upper middle-class homes. He also writes about the life of
Bengalis in England, The letters, full of wit and the swagger of juvenile
sophistication, are an interesting and authentic record of the Impact English
culture had on Bengalis at the height of the British Empire.
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