TAGORE AND MADHURILATA
Tagore’s eldest daughter Madhurilata was born on the 25th
of October 1886, in Jorasanko. Tagore was twenty six years old while her mother
Mrinalini was thirteen.
His niece Indira Devi described Madhurilata whose
nickname was Bela as a wax doll, a ‘momer putul’, writing, ‘Among Ravikaka’s
children Bela alone has inherited his complexion.’
His sister-in-law Jnanadanandini, Satyendranath Tagore’s
wife took them to her own residence in Park Street so that mother and baby
could be given the latest in care.
Tagore described his daughter with much tenderness. He
helped to bathe her himself while in the Park Street house. Later on while they
were in Darjeeling, he wrote about waking her up for her night feeds of warmed
up milk. ‘She would seize upon children of her own age with cries of delight.’
He published ‘Kori o Kamal’ when she was about a
month old.
Tagore wrote to his friend Srishchandra Majumdar, ‘My
daughter has been given a name the day before yesterday. Her name is
Madhurilata.’ There was some fanfare at the Rice ceremony on 25th
July 1887, which cost about Rs 371 at the time. He wrote for her the following
song:
ওহে নবীন অতিথি, তুমি নূতন কি তুমি চিরন্তন।
যুগে যুগে কোথা তুমি ছিলে
সঙ্গোপন॥
যতনে কত-কী আনি বেঁধেছিনু গৃহখানি,
হেথা কে তোমারে বলো করেছিল
নিমন্ত্রণ॥
কত আশা ভালোবাসা গভীর
হৃদয়তলে
ঢেকে রেখেছিনু বুকে কত
হাসি-অশ্রুজলে।
একটি না কহি বাণী তুমি এলে মহারানী,
কেমনে গোপনে মনে করিলে হে
পদার্পণ॥
Youthful guest of mine, are you new or are you eternal?
Where were you hidden through the ages?
I have gathered much with care to make this a home
Tell me who was the one who invited you here?
In the deepest recesses of my heart with much hope and
love
I shelter you with tears and laughter.
You came without a word, Queen of mine,
How did you enter my heart without me knowing?
(Translation, mine)
**
A portrait in pastels was commissioned by the artist J.
Archer for the sum of Rs 400 which was slightly more than 400,000 rupees at
today’s value.
Much later, Tagore would write to his wife from onboard a
ship headed for Aden on his way to England of an astonishing experience he had
had; ‘On Sunday night I felt just as though my soul had left my body and
gone to Jorasanko. You were lying on one side of a large bed and Beli and
Rathi(Khoka) lay beside you. I kissed them both and came back.’
It is worth remembering here that the poem ‘Jetey nahi
dibo’, ‘I will not let you go’, which has been described as the shortest epic
poem in Indian literature was full of reminiscences of the six year old Bela.
He observed that she would be a very affectionate and unassuming girl when she
grew older.
I will not let you go
‘I look at the clock, and then turn to
Look at her, saying softly,
‘And now I leave.’ Suddenly she turns
Head inclined as the end of her sari hides
The tears that threaten bad luck.
Outside by the door pensive in thought
My daughter aged four. By now
On any other day she would have been bathed
She falls asleep as soon as she is fed.
Today her mother has not given her a thought
She has been my shadow, silent and constant.
She was watching wordless and unblinking
The preparations for departure. Who knows
What she thought as she sat quietly at the door.
When I said, “Now I go, Little Mother’
She said sad eyed, dully, ‘I will not let you go.’
She stayed where she was, seated,
She did not hold my arm, nor bar the door,
She just stated the rights of love and said,
‘I will not let you go.’ But still that time came
To an end and, still alas
You had to let go.
Oh unknowing child of mine
Who are you? Where from have you
Gathered the power to say such words,
With such spirit –
‘I will not let you go.’ In all the worlds
Who will you hold back with your tiny arms
What pride, as you protest from your seat
By the door, your tired little frame
All your strength in that heart beating with love.
From that pain, with much fear and shame
The stating of a wish is all that one can do
‘I do not feel like letting go.’ Who can say?.
‘I will not let you go.’ Hearing this from your lips
Proud declaration of love, Life
Draws me away with an amused smile.
You just look on, defeated eyes brimming
Sitting at the door like a picture,
I came away wiping my tears.’
(Translation, mine)
**
The letter of 28th February 1897 indicates
that Tagore was not in Calcutta at the time. Madhurilata wrote, ‘When will
you come to Kolkata? Miss Lincoln does not tutor us now, she says that the
doctor has told her she is very weak and must not teach anymore.’
We see a delightful image of sisterly affection from a
letter of 29th May, 1899. Bela writes,
‘You have told me that I must feed Rathi and help him
put on weight. I fed him kheer and the pureed Bombai mangoes today. But he does
not listen to me, not even as an older sister. He must be made to call me Big
sister from now. I will try hard to do all the things you have written about. I
will believe in God. Believe me Father I will try very hard to be good. I
will not be able to be as clever and good as Didiya but I will try as much as I
can.’
In May 1900, Tagore heard about the marriage of a
friend’s daughter and wrote to Srishchandra M, ‘Mainu is Bela’s age. She is
growing up too.’
Priyanath Sen brought news of a good prospective groom.
Tagore had met Sen shortly after Sandhyasangeet was published and held him in
high regard. Priyanath was a scholar who was described as a ‘sailor of the
seven seas’ because of his knowledge of Bengali, English, French and Italian.
He lived at 8 Mathur Sen Garden Lane.
The groom was Sarat Kumar Chakravarti. The family was not
unfamiliar to Tagore as the groom’s father was the poet Biharilal Chakravarti.
Sarat was the third son of the family. He was sixteen years older than Bela. He
was a great scholar. After being schooled at Hindu School, he came first in
both English and Philosophy at Presidency College for which he received the
Ishan scholarship, the Hemantakumar medal and the Keshabchandra Sen medal. He
was first in his MA class in 1895 and after gaining a B.L the following year,
began practicing as a lawyer in Mujaffarpore in Bihar.
Initially Priyanath spoke to Sarat’s mother Kadambari
Devi and his eldest brother Avinash Chakravarti. In July 1900, Tagore wrote to
Sen, ‘Now do all you can to take the negotiations towards fruition. He
was prepared to go to Kolkata if it was required.
Another letter gives us a look at the financial situation
the poet found himself in.
‘I have debts of Rs 5000 after building my house.
There are some other small debts as well. Would it be possible to find a buyer
who would pay Rs 6000 for my books and the copyrights to the poetry written so
far?’
Reminder after reminder followed. Priyanath Sen indicated
that he was not having any luck with the eldest brother Avinash.
‘Yesterday he was meant to see me again, but he did
not do so…’
Tagore was understandably impatient as is evident from
letter after letter addressed to Priyanath.
In August: ‘I am urging myself to be patient.’
And again: ‘Any hope of Sarat (marrying Bela) seems to
be clouded with despair just like the sunshine of the season.’
17th August, 1900: ‘Do you still harbor
hopes about Sarat? I have given up on that quarter for quite some time now .’
On the 19th of August, Priyanath Sen wrote:
‘I have not forsaken our hopes for Sarat completely.
He dearly wishes that this marriage takes place. He will take part only when he
receives his mother’s consent. He does not wish to secure his own happiness at
the expense of that of his mother. Let us see what happens.’
There is an undated letter where Tagore expressed his
doubts about Sarat being able to convince his own mother to agree to the
marriage since he himself had never seen Bela.
The following year talks resumed between Tagore and the
groom’s elder brothers, Avinash and Rishibor.
The groom’s family agreed to lower their demand for a
dowry to Rupees ten thousand from their previous demand for Rupees twenty
thousand.
23rd March 1901 – we find the financially stretched
desperate poet writing to Priyanath Sen;
“It is
difficult to say anything about Bela’s dowry. I will
try to come up with the sum of ten thousand rupees. That will be in cash and in
instalments. This arrangement will not suit me but I will have to agree to it
if the need arises. There is very little cash and my father will never agree to the proposal of taking out a loan; thus I
cannot raise the topic of a large dowry at this point in time. My father
usually blesses the newly married couples with about four to five thousand
rupees the day after the wedding has been held. No one
has ever needed to remind him about this. I cannot broach the demand for twenty
thousand rupees with him at all.”
The desperation of a father pushed the poet to write to Sen
again on 24th March;
“I have
written to you explicitly clarifying my position regarding
the dowry. I feel it is futile to make any efforts where I know they will come
to naught. I am not prepared to take on this task at the expense of angering my
father and displeasing my family members.”
It is clear that he had to discuss the dowry demands in great
detail. Letters of this time speak of talks with the groom’s brothers and the
reduction of the sum to half the original amount stated.
But the situation came to an impasse over when the money would
be handed over to the groom’s family. At this point Rabindranath Tagore himself
decided to appeal to the prospective groom’s sense of fairness and wrote to him
in secret. This letter was dated 24th April, 1901. A fuller
understanding of the anguish the poet had to bear as a result of these negotiations
is easily gained by reading the letter.
Shilaidaha,
Kumarkhali, EBSR
Dear,
Your late
father was a close friend of our family. He held me in the kind of affection
one feels for a brother and thus I feel I have the right to address you in this familiar manner.
Priyanath
Sen has presented you with a proposal to marry my daughter; I have seen your
letters regarding the matter and discussions have been held with your
brothers.
I was keen
about the proposed alliance for various reasons and
would count myself as fortunate if this marriage was to take place. But I feel
that I must discuss the issue with you instead of sitting back in silence,
since if this marriage should take place by the grace of God, the relationship between us will be continuous and our mutual happiness and
fortune or lack thereof will be celebrated together.
My father
gifts all the new members of our family with a dowry on the day after the
wedding. I do not wish to repeat the amount of dowry that has been decided upon after discussions. But I must raise a
point with you that is related to this gift. I hope you will accept this with
generosity.
According to
the custom of our family, the son-in-laws must adopt the Brahmo faith a day or
two before the marriage. When your brother Avinash
suggested at Priyanath Sen’s house that the dowry should be given to you on the
day you convert to the Brahmo religion, I had agreed to the suggestion without
giving It any further thought. When I told my father about this that night, he expressed great astonishment and said,
‘The couple will be given the dowry as a gift and blessing, but why is the
dowry being demanded before the wedding has taken place? Do they not trust me?’
I could not
give him a suitable answer and it was immediately
apparent to me that the demand showed disrespect and insulted my father.
I am coming
to you with this information without going through the usual channels. This is
because I feel that it is not your intention to cause us the shame and anguish we have felt. If we are to establish any future
relationship it cannot begin on a foundation of suspicion and disrespect. That
would only cause hurt and insult further down the line. I will make my final
decision only after hearing from you.
If any of your relations are irritated because I wrote to you
directly about all this then I hope you will think over the situation and not
misunderstand me.
Irrespective
of whether my wishes are fulfilled regarding the marriage, I hope you accept my
most sincere blessings.
Yours
Sri
Rabindranath
Thakur
11thBaishakh, 1308
[RUMA
CHAKRAVARTI]
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