Rabindranath Tagore and his tragic romance

By Amal HEWAVISSENTI

Rabindranath Tagore is India's non pareli poet whose poetic intuition finds free expression in Geethanjlee, the first Nobel Prize winner in Asia. The great intellectual depth of his poetic creations is readily achieved with breathtaking lightness and grace.

The vibrant personality of this tall man impressed Westerners such as W. B. Yeats, Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russel who once remarked "A single reading of Geethanjalee makes me conclude that Tagore's poetry differs fairly from that of the West. Poetry of Geethanjalee ranks best in world literature and, I wish I could have read it in original Bengali".

Inspiration

He records to have been imbued with the mysterious pleasure in listening to his elder brother Jothiendranath reciting verses from Kalidasa's Meghadutha even through the language was totally alien to him. The dramatic style of Kalidasa's Shakuntala and Jayadeva's Geetha Govinda seem to have had a profound impact on his works and attitudes to literature.

Apart from that the literary works of Byron, Shakespeare and Dante had a broad appeal for him while he was beginning to bear all marks of a promising poet. Often Tagore preferred the poetic style of Biharilal Chakrawarthi who held Tagore spellbound by his recitings of best portions from Kalidasa's works on his personal visits to Biharilal.

Young Tagore was inspired to get the first glimpses of Bengali literature by his elder brother Jothiyendranath and his wife Kadambari, Tagore's sister-in-law who was roughly the same age as he. The period of three decades from 1850 to 1880 marked the golden epoch in Bengali literature where the first Bengali novelist Swarna Kumari (Tagore's elder sister) flourished and where the novels by Bankim Chandra Chatterji signalled his role as a pre-eminent literary figure.

The sharply poignant scene where the thirteen- year-old Tagore saw his father praying in his room after his mother's death made him tough-minded and realistic to shake off all bereavements later in life.

During this decisive phase of his life Jothiyendranath managed to bring about a major breakthrough in his creativity in literature, paintings and various sides of his life. Jothiyendranath's wife, Kadambari, through pronounced sisterly love was careful to fill the vacuum left by his mother and even became his best friend to have shared everything.

Satyajith Rai on the bond

Tagore, Jothiyendranath and Kadambari had a wonderfully pleasurable time together in Chandranagar near Calcutta where they enjoyed the natural beauty of the surroundings.

As he later records, he swam in the nearby river while Kadambari was watching him and engaged in making boats with Jothiendranath. Sathyajith Rai comments on this special bond "The close association between the wife and her husband's younger brother is culturally acceptable by Bengali.

It is a pure, friendly relationship because any contact with an outside male is a taboo for a married woman. She has complete freedom to move with her brother-in-law. It is this relationship that develops in the plot of my film "Charulatha" which is based on Tagore's own story of his own life experience". In the film, the younger brother Aamul is attracted to his sister-in-law Charulatha but he understands that he must stop before the relationship draws to a catastrophic point.

Whatever be the end, they enjoy their company because Bengali cultural tradition allows freedom for them to be close until it may ultimately develop into deeper relationship.

Matchless comforter

Kadambari was only nine years when she was married to Tagore's elder brother. However, a profound relationship was beginning to blossom between Tagore and Kadambary as they shared their personal interests in literature and arts. Above all, she now played the role of the undeniable comforter and supporter for isolated Tagore because of his mother's bereavement and his emergence as a promisingly creative poet. Locked in a complex clash of emotions, Kadambari flatly said that neither his poetry nor his appearance impressed her (to show that she did not love him).

At all costs, a mild but strong link was growing between them two chiefly because Kadambari was somewhat lonely and childless and Tagore was suffering very much with the mother's death. The woman to have gained total influence over young Tagore was none other than Kadambari who used to enjoy reading whatever Tagore wrote. Whenever she got a copy of a book, she wanted Tagore to come and read it aloud for her. He later revealed the strange sensation he had when she was by him listening to his reading.

"No electric fans were available that time. While I was reading aloud, I was tickled by the soft swish of wind coming from my sister-in-law's fan.

The touch of the wind on my face had an extraordinary aroma". Music strengthened his ties with Jothiyendranath while literature was the magic that kept Kadambari's soul with him within one world. It is this strong emotional tie of Tagore, Jothiyendranath and Kadambari that unfolds in Satyajith Rai's classic production "Charulatha" based on Tagore's own short story.

'Rahu's love'

Meanwhile, Tagore impassively gave his consent to his father's choice of a bride for him - a totally illiterate girl of eleven years named Bhavatharani. Soon after the simple marriage ceremony, she was sent to a leading school for education and very little is known about what Tagore felt about the prematurely married girl.

In 1884 he published a collection of poems under the title of "Chabi O gan" which was exclusively dedicated to Kadambari's name. The poem titled "Rahu's love" implicitly addresses the inner recesses of Kadambari's heart with rather unusual tone and erotically suggestive words.

"From the very beginning of time, you have been my partner because I am your shadow. You could better see me in your smile and tears.... You will be surprised to see me gazing on your face in the pitch darkness when you are wrapped in a blanket of despair...

Wherever you turn, you will see me. My shadow will taper off to the sky but it will enshroud the whole world. My miserable voice and sinister smile will resound in all directions because I have an insatiable hunger... In short, I am a malady to your mind and body. I am the sword piercing your heart. Just as the night comes at the end of the day, I am behind you and that is your destiny". (from "Rahu"s love).

The poem "Rahu's love" carries an undertone of selfish love where Kadambari, symbolised by Rahu, a mythical planet, disastrously loves Tagore (symbolised by the moon being preyed on by Rahu). Two months after reading the poem, Kadambari, now twenty- five years of age, committed suicide in Tagore mansion. The post mortem report and Kadambari's letter that carried her own reasons for killing herself were destroyed forthwith on Tagore's father's intervention.

Irreversible fate

To pre-empt the possibility of Tagore mansion being brought into disrespect. Debendranath spent 52 rupees (a big amount in 1880's). On reading Tagore's poem, in which she was compared to Rahu, she must have been obsessed with the terrifying sensation that life was being squeezed out of her. What feelings could have passed over her mind on picturing herself as Rahu whose love is a "canker to the rose".

It is this inescapable reality of emotional struggle between Aamul and Charulatha that is portrayed in "Charulatha" a cinematic masterpiece by Satyajith Rai. Here Charulatha, quite identical with Kadambari, falls victim to a deep emotional dependence on her brother-in-law and hysterically struggles to keep him within her own world giving him no room to marry a lady.

Likewise, Kadambari suffered immensely from loneliness in the mansion, being exposed to familiar criticism on her childlessness and her husband's life far a part in relationship.

Within the framework of male-dominant society, she had for too limited opportunity to express herself.

Her habit of reading poetry and novels was often viewed with deep-rooted prejudice by ladies of the Tagore mansion because Bengali tradition dictated that women should keep away from literary arts.

At all costs, the cataclysmic death of Kadambari and haunting memories of her drained Tagore's vitality and virtually brought him to a standstill as he was inextricably linked to her. Above all, Tagore and Kadambari were interdependent even though it seemed to be an offence to any modern sense of morality.

Though his reaction to his mother's death underlined his non-chalant attitude to life, the shock of Kadambari's death seemed to tear apart the very fabric of his life and his world. It is interesting to note that he has not dedicated any of his literary works to the name of his wife though he wrote poetry on her but many books have been dedicated to Kadambari's name.

Throughout his life time, he composed poetry on Kadambari and he portrayed a mysterious face (of Kadambari?) in a few of his paintings. Throughout his poetry are scattered references to the image of Kadambari and clues of his despondency which rise to a tragic stature in his literature.