Letters from a Young Poet (50 page)

*
Beli (Bela): Rabindranath's firstborn, daughter Madhurilata, born 25 October 1886.

†
Na-didi: Swarnakumari Debi (1855–1932), fourth daughter of Debendranath Tagore and Rabindranath's older sister (
didi
). She was an accomplished writer, editor of
Bhrat
and
Blak
, famous nationalist and activist for women's rights.

*
Sarala: Rabindranath's niece and Swarnakumari's daughter, Saraladebi Chaudhurani, who was best known for her militant nationalism and, later, her friendship with Mahatma Gandhi.

†
Baṛ-didi: Saudamini Debi, first daughter of Debendranath Tagore and Rabindranath's eldest sister.

*
Suri: Surendranath Tagore, Indira's brother.

*
Swayamprabha was the daughter of Sharatkumari Debi, and a niece of Rabindranath's.

†
Dada
: Bengali term for elder brother; also used as a suffix. It is unclear in this instance which older brother is being referred to.

‡
Khoka: Rathindranath Tagore, Rabindranath's second child and elder son, born on 27 November 1888.

*
Choto-ma: Rabindranath's wife, Mrinalini Debi. Later referred to as ‘Choto-bau': wife of the youngest son in a joint family.

*
The word
praj
literally means subject or the people, and here refers to the poor tenanted farmers who tilled the estates. The word ‘peasant' or ‘tenant' has been used throughout in place of praj.

*
Heli nāṭya
was the title of a number of charades composed by Rabindranath and published in the periodicals
Blak
and
Bhrat
between 1885 and 1886.

†
A
munsef
was an officer trying suits at the lowest civil court. The
cpkn
was a long and loose robe that was usually part of the official dress.

*
Neb
: administrator and rent collector of the estate.

†
Khjñci
: treasurer or paymaster of the estate.

*
Pik
: footman, guard or messenger.
Kchri
: landlord's, or in this case the district magistrate's, court of justice.

*
ncal
: The end of a sari flung over a woman's shoulder.

*
The
miṛ
can most approximately be translated as glissando—a glide from one pitch to another, a bending of the strings on a stringed instrument or of the notes in a vocal performance.

†
The waning moon during the dark fortnight is referred to as the Kshnapaksha moon.

*
As Rabindranath explains in the next sentence,
kāňcikāṭhā
is the word for a narrow passage that lets out the water from large marshes (
bil
) into a river.

*
A colloqiual phrase indicating that a story has ended; literally: ‘my words have come to an end, the
ná¹­ae
shrub is shorn of its leaves'.

*
Khb ektturkincan
: probably referring to the whirling dervish.

*
Baṛ-dada: Dvijendranath Tagore, eldest brother of Rabindranath.

*
Mmvaurer bhgne
: The relationship referred to is brother-in-law or
l
, a common Indian expletive.

*
Bhairo: colloquial Hindustani for Bhairav, a morning raga; meant to be played or performed in the morning.

†
Hindi for ‘I'll make some right now'.

*
Jyoti: Jyotirindranath Tagore, fifth son of Debendranath.

†
Birendra: Birendranath Tagore, fourth son of Debendranath.

*
arat
: Rabindranath's favourite season, and one that will recur many times in the course of these letters. Corresponds to the time of year in Bengal after the rains when the skies clear in autumn.

*
Ll
can be roughly translated as god's sport.

*
The Kojāgar Pūrṇāimā is the full-moon night when Hindus worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

*
Sholli may presumably be short for Sarala, his niece.

*
Renuka: the third child and second daughter of Rabindranath and Mrinalini, born 23 January 1891.

*
Pierre Loti was the pseudonym of Julien Viaud (1850–1923), a French novelist and naval officer. Edmund Gosse said about his work in the
Encyclopaedia Britannica
(1911): ‘Many of his best books are long sobs of remorseful memory, so personal, so intimate, that an English reader is amazed to find such depth of feeling compatible with the power of minutely and publicly recording what is felt.'

*
Peneti: colloquial term for Panihati.

*
Abhi: Abhigyasundari, third daughter of Hemendranath Tagore and Rabindranath's niece.

*
Nahabat khn
: The outdoor location for the performance of a group of musicians, usually on the
ni
(
shehnai
in Hindi or Urdu), which is a wooden wind instrument. The recital itself is referred to as the
nahabat
.

*
Paul et Virginie
(or Paul and Virginia) is a novel by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, first published in 1787.

*
Phige
: a species of fork-tailed passerine birds.

*
James Sully (1842–1923) was an English psychologist; his books include
Sensation and Intuition
(1874),
Pessimism
(1877) and
Illusions
(1881; 4th ed. 1895).

†
Thacker's refers to Thacker, Spink & Co., well-known publishers and booksellers in Calcutta in the nineteenth century.

*
A long, loose overcoat of rough cloth, frequently with a belt and a detachable hood or shoulder cape.

*
Caturda: the fourteenth day of the lunar fortnight.

*
Goṛāẏ galad
[The Initial Mistake]: Rabindranath's first prose comedy, published in 1892.

*
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) was a Swiss philosopher, poet and critic. His most famous book is the
Journal Intime
(Private Journal), which, published after his death in 1882, became widely popular in Europe, and was almost immediately translated into English by Mary Ward or Mrs Humphrey Ward.

*
In his reminiscences,
Chelebel
, Rabindranath says: ‘In the
nabbi
style, the servants' quarters in those days used to be called the
toshkhn
.'

*
A line from the Bhgabat Gt, which may roughly be translated to mean: ‘God's creation has not its source in any necessity, it comes from his fullness of delight, and then it is his love that creates, therefore in creation is God revealed.' Or, to summarize: ‘Joy springs from creation itself, it has no external cause.'

*
Kenilworth
: a historical romance by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1821.

*
This is the way the words of the song are written down in the letter. The words of the song as it appears in the
Gtabitn
have changed a little from this version.

*
Rabindranath uses the word
de
throughout to mean Bengal.

*
Aban: Abanindranath Tagore, famous artist and nephew of Rabindranath, who lived in the neighbouring Tagore household at No. 5 Jorasanko. His grandfather, Girindranath, was Debendranath Tagore's brother; when Debendranath opted for the Brahmo Samaj, his family resided at No. 6 Jorasanko, while the other branch chose to remain with the household Hindu deity at Dwarakanath Tagore's house at No. 5. Relations between the two houses always remained cordial.

*
The word
jocchony
is rendered here as pronounced by the illiterate maidservant.

*
A sweet preparation made with semolina, sugar and raisins cooked in gh.

*
Iru: Irabati Debi, daughter of Baṛ-didi.

*
‘Thus did Yjavalkya instruct [Janaka]: “This is his [the seer's] highest goal; this is his highest treasure; this is his highest world; this is his greatest bliss. On a particle of this very bliss other creatures live.”' From the
Brihadranyaka Upanishad
, IV.3.32.

*
Gaṛer māṭh
: literally, the fields of the fort; refers to the fields of the well-manicured grassland around Fort William in Calcutta, also referred to as the Maidan.

*
Batriś siṃhāsan
: refers to the legend of the thirty-two thrones of King Vikramaditya.

*
Ṭhākur
, meaning the gods, is being punned on here, as it is also, of course, Rabindranath's family's surname in Bengali.

*
A section of
Sdhan
was devoted to the discussion of something called the
pāñcabhautik sabh
, which roughly translates as ‘gathering of the five elements', where personifications representing the five elements debated particular issues. The topics of discussion could vary from ‘The Significance of Poetry' [
Kbyer ttparya
] to ‘The Satisfaction of Beauty' [
Saundarya sammandheantosh
].