The Tagore women and a tale of empowerment

The women of the famed literary family from Bengal were harbingers of change in their own right, writes

MADHUSREE CHATTERJEE

. .....................................................................................................................

Ata tim e w h e n th e str uggle for a ~orld cha t i~ safe tor wom en 1s 111 the n ews, here is a boo k chat is timely, even as it retell s h istory wife of Satye n dranath T ago re, el der b roth er of poe t R ab indrana th Tagore and the first In dia n to enter the Indian Civil Service in 1863, was the fo rce behind the opening of che zenana (area whe re wome n were kept in se clusion) in the tr actitio n al e lite househ o lds of 19th century Be n gal.

Am na Chaka ravarti, a 2004 Commonwealth Writer s' Pri ze nominee, recalls tbe contributio n of the Tagore women to the m oder n women's m ovement in h er new boo k Jorasanko (H arper Collin s India) Jorasanko is the name of the Tagores' a ncestral hom e.

She was the first wo man from a feudal family to accom pany her hu sb and ro his p lace of work

After a one -a nd- a- half yea r scim in Bombay, as Mumbai was called, w h ere her husband was p osted as assistant collector, Jnanadananclin.i brough t the "Par si way o f wear in g th e sari" to Bengal.

Th e sari was ea.rlier wrapp ed aro und the bodies o f wom en in a single sheath w ithou t p leats o r a shoulder drape. Bue Jnanadanandin.i wore it tl1e way it is draped today, with p leats arou nd the waist a nd the fabric g ath ered into a drape to cover the "breas ts and the s ho ulder", making the wom an look el egant.

T he feisty wife of the c ivi l administraror was also tl1e first o n e to wear tl, e Orie n tal dress - a Mughal style k11rta (s h ire) and vo lmninous pants - to travel.

The lig h t- eyed Jnanadanand.ini,

'' Jnanadanandini, wife of Satyendranath Tagore, elder brother of poet Rabindranath Tagore and the first Indian to enter the Indian Civil Service in 1863, was the force behind the opening of the zenana in the traditional elite households of 19th century Bengal. '' desc ribed as "mealy m outhed" by her m other- in -law, i ntro du ced the nuc lear famil y with.in the very walls o f Jorasanko, ad opting tl,e weste rn way of li fe.

Chakrava rti 's account reads like an abso rbing family soap, and o n e m ight be forgiven fo r th at the work is non - fiction.

The work examines other wome n in che T ago r e house ho l d too Satada Sundari, w ife of D ebe ndran atl, Tagore and mother of poet Rabindranatl,, suffered the t hro es of seeing family valu es change. The ratl,er plain wo m an, wh o tl,e T agore household and a dashing

Aruna Chakaravarti husband , refused to let tl1e "old world conservatism slip by".

A li t tle ind ole n t and lazy, she rebelled against daughter-in-law J nanadanandiui.

Sarada's sister-in-law Jogmaya was a tota l contrast to her. Though second in the hierarchy o f wome n in cbe house h old, she was the o n e who loo ked after alJ n eeds of the family She proved an excelJent mother to n ot onl y her own chi.ld.ren, but to Sarada's as well, Chakaravarti holds.

Of T ripura Sundari, w ho was not exactly renowned for h e r beauty, the autho r says condescenctingl y that s h e made up for tl1e lack of beauty '\vi th h e r tireless wor k of household management S he had the strength and e nergy of the barren woman and all her h eartache. Though she received a lot of com m end atio n , it failed to satisfy her".

Digambari, wife of pioneer Dwarakanath, R ab indranath's grand father, i s painted as s to ic. She bore her husband's abse nce wi thout co m p la.int, and the force of her cha.racter su.rprised even Brahmin pund.its.

D riven by tl1e urge to "atone fo r her husband's sins" of moving inro a ne w home from a ncestor l eelmoni Tagore's abode, for h is asso ciation with British rulers and for the pleasu res he soughr in nautch girls, Digambari Joc ked herself in the prayer room.

In contrast, Kadarn bari D evi, the w i fe of Jyoti.rindranath and sister-in -law of poet Rabindranath, w a s a melancholic and gen tle woman with d eep sen sitivities, relined i n telJect an d an insatiab.l e thirst for knowledge She was driven to end her life.

"Mrinalini was salc-o f- theea rch", the silent force b ehin d husband Rabindranach's meteoric rise Ln t he Liternry world

What the writer perhaps fo rgets to ad d is the contribution of the p etite former Bollywood actress Sharmila T agore, the wi d owed begum of Nawab Mans u r Ali Khan Pacaudi, and g r eat-grand daughter of R abindran atl1 Tago re. Sharmila ,vas symbolic of tl1e family's contin u ed presence in tl,e n ew popula r cultural milieu o f ci n e m a in India. An d i.i1 a stran gely karmic way, she was also the f.u nily's tenuous tie co its ancient se cular roocs, the Pirali Brahm ins of Jessore, wh o were ostracised b y tl1eir Hindu brethren for allowing tl1eir blood brotl,ers co convert to Islam and bri.i1gin g d,e two faitl1s togetl1er n early five c en turies ago.