Talent of Rabindranath [1868-1876] contd-1

Wrestling and Gymnastic were items of his regular practice. He also learnt how to play with sticks. The person employed for this was a cobbler. It was customary that the learner would take dust from the leg of his preceptor. But in this case the preceptor was a cobbler and the learner was a Brahman. But Debendranath instructed his son to take dust from his preceptor. This was learnt from Rabindranath which was revealed subsequently.
Leonard K. Elmhirst [1893-1974] wrote to the Physical Instructor  Subodh Narayan Choudhury of Viswabharaati on 25th May 1970 , " Maharshi Debendranath appointed a low caste Hindu, a Muchi or leather worker who was an expert lathi player, to teach the act of lathi-play to Rabindranath when he was a boy.Rabindranath not knowing how properly to greet such a low caste Hindu as a teacher, went to his father , Maharshi Devendranath , advice. Marashi told him to welcome him by taking the dust of his feet just in the same traditional manner of a disciple doing 'pronum' to his guru."
Rabindranath is under three project. 1. Practicing physical exercises, 2. Learning lessons at home and school and 3.Writing poems. writing poems of the new poet going in full swing.The blue Full Scape papers obtained from the office were gradually being filled up. His popularity had  already crossed family barrier . It had spread to the bigger world approachable to him. Satkari Datta, a teacher of Normal school and writer of "Pranibrittanta" liked the boy. He, to make the boy interested in writing poems, asked him to fill up the next line after  writing   the first line.One day Satkari datta wrore,
"Rabikare Jwalatan achila sabai
Barasa bharasa dila aar bhay nai."
Rabindramath filled up the next line writing,
"Mingan hinhaye chila sarobare,
Ekhan tahara sukhe jalakrira kare."
Govinda Babu [ Govinda Chandra Bandypadhyay] ,the superintendent of  the Normal School was a fat, short and dark grey coloured '. He was fearful to all.One day 5/6 boys , older than him,  teased him . Rabindranath fled to the Superintendent's room . Govindra Babu looked on him affectionately. He asked me to bring own written poems. Probably " I wrote a poem on 'sadvabh'. Suerintendent took Rabindranath before the boys in the assembly and asked him to recite the poem in front of them. But they  have no good feeling with Rabindranath.
An important lesson Rabindranath had verbally from his attendant Ishwar known as Brajeshwar about Ramayan.
Rabindranath wrote his  letter  to his Father
Rabindranath remembered that in his child hood there was a time when English was afraid of Russia and people were thinking of an attack by Russia to India. One of our relative and well wisher told my mother with exaggeration about this.His  father was in Himalayas at that time. For this reason my mother became worried. Her worries were not supported by the senior female members of Tagore  family. But "I was totally ignorant of how to write a letter"            
I approached to the head clerk , Mahananda Munsi [Mukhopadhaya] and take lesson from him.But my language was carrying the scent of the rotten paper got from the office.
Debendranath replied to the letter saying that he would drove the Russians, so need not be worried.
Prabodh Chandra Sen imagined that probably the letter was written in 1871 when the English were having a misunderstandings with the Russians for Badakson.
Rabindranath wrote a poem on Mahananda which was mentioned by Abanindranath,

"Mahananda naame      e kacharidhame

Achen ekkarmachari

Dharia lekhani         kekhen patrakhani

Sada henth kari.      

Talent of Rabindranath [1868 - 1876]

Talent of Rabindranath begins with writing poems and singing songs.
Rabindranath wrote, "my age was not more than 7-8 when I began writing poems". One day, one of his nephew Jyotiprakas [ Jyotiprakas Gangopadyay {1855-1919}, son of Kadambini Debi [eldest sister of Ganandranath] and Jnangprakas Gangopadyay ] called him in his room and said,"you have to write poems" He told him. how to write Payaar of 14 words. His nephew was a little bit older . A few days after Rabindranath began to write poems in full scale in  blue papers got from office with curved lines  drawn on it. His elder  brother,  Somendranath, on seeing the talent of Rabindranath , took the responsibility of being his publicity officer . Up til now  they made the office assistants to listen to Rabinath's poem, now they got an opportunity of approaching to Nabagopal Babu , editor of National Paper, who  for the first time could not appreciate  the talent of Rabindranath.
By this time Jyotirindranath became a prominent person in Tagore family for his qualities in music. He was practicing music for long time. He was the music composer of "Nabanatak". Recently, he learnt Sitar when he went to Bombay with Satyendreanath.His enthusiasm in music was expressed at the annual function of Brahmo Samaj on 23 Jan 1869. This enthusiasm was due to Debendranath returned from Himalayas. 15 songs was sung. He also took Rabindranath in this affairs. Rabindranath wrote in Jibansmriti that they were brought up in  musical environment and he could not remember when he was ignorant of music.
 He remember that imitating the Maghotsab they decorated their room with marigold flowers and he sung "dekhile tomer sei atula prem-anane" sitting on a table.
Really,  wave of  music was constantly flowing traditionally in Jorasanko Thakur Bari. Debendranath in his boyhood, he learnt piano from an European teacher. Later he took lesson in vocal music from an Ostad. From the time of Ram mohan , Bengali words were put in Hindi songs to create Brahmo Song. It was in vogue even in the time of Debendranath.But this was changed during his son's time.
Dwijendranath, Satyendraanath, Hemendranath, Jyotorindranath , all of them, practiced vocal  music earnestly. Son in law of  debendranath, Sarada Prasad took lesson from the famous Sitarist Jualaprasad. Many renowned  musician assembled in Jorasanko. Moreover, Bisnuchandra Chakrabarty was a paid music teacher in Brahmo Society. He and his elder brother Krishna used to sing in Brahmo society Even after  the death of Krishna he remained as teacher and retired in his old days in 1289 Bangabde. He composed many songs created by Debendranath and his sons.
He was also the music teacher of Thakur Bari. In childhood Rabindranath took lesson from him. Each  Sunday  morning music classes  were held. Rabindranath wrote about this, The songs he taught was not appreciated by modern known or unknown Singer. Rabindranath mentioned, "now a days music teachers teaches first sa re ga ma and ask to practice them. ...Harmonium was not available at that  time to spoil the sense of music. We carried Tambura on our shoulder and practice songs. We were not dolls of instruments."
              

Srikantha Singh and Rabindranath

This year [1873] a person known as Srikantha Singh of Raypur came to Jorasanko. He was the eldest uncle of Satyendra Prasad Singh from whom Debendranath got 20 bighas of land in Santiniketan. Srikantha became intimate follower of Debendranath. All the arrangements for his stay in Jorasanko were done. At this time Rabindranth was on tour with his father to Bolpur and Himalayas. After coming back he became friend with Rabindranath with their age apart from 1874 when he appeared on 18 Feb 1874 to fetch Rabindranath and others to Ballygunge. He again took them to Hadua. This shows that his intimacy with the boys developed and he was seen with them from north to south of Calcutta. Rabindranath had drawn paragraph on him so that we can get his  ins and outs vividly. ' This old man was just a ripe mango of Bombay full of sweet juice having no fiber '. he was completely balled headed, his mustache and beard were completely shaved , soft and sweet face, there was mo teeth in both the jaws. His two big eyes were were full of laughter. When he talked with his heavy voice , his hands , mouth and eyes began to talk.He had always a wooden pot for smoking as his regular companion. He had a Sitar on his lap and constant flow of songs.The above photograph was taken in 1874 and not in 1873 as mentioned in  Jibansmriti. One day he along with three boys companion went to a English photographer's shop. Sidhartha ghosh unearthed the actual story of the photography. The original photograph was kept in rabindrabhavan.This photograph was taken in Watrloo Street. Where there is a sign board  written as

Artists in Photography

Westfield and Coy

3. Waterloo st. 

Calcutta

Rabindranath was a favorite student of Srikantha Singh in vocal music. One of his favorite song was "Mnay chorno brajaki basari" . Srikantha took Rabindranath from door to door to listen the song above sung by Rabindranath. When the boy began to sing he used to play Violin and joined to sing the main words , "Mnay Charno".  He himself saw in appreciation and looked to others to follow him.

Dwijendranath in a letter wrote to Rabindranath when he was in London, " That he had seen the false attempt made by him to sing at that time. He had seen him trying utmost to sing  sitting on the lap  of Srikanthababu.  But Debendranath wrote srikantha in a letter that he was satisfied to know that he inspired Dwijendranath and Hemendranath  

End of school education in India [1866 -1876]

Rabindranath came back to Calcutta from the Himalayas with Kishorinath, a follower of Debendranath, before 23rd May, 1873 but he did not attend school, Bengal Academy, before June . The standard and method of training he undergone  from his father during his stay for three months with him had far difference from that of Bengal Academy. It became difficult for him to adjust. He started to drop out from the school on different excuses.
Sri Jnanchandra Bhattacharya, son of Ananda Chandra Vedantabagish, was appointed as a English teacher in place of Aghornath Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath also became his student after his journey to Himalayas
The relation of Rabindranath with Bengal Academy did not improve and Rabindranath continued dropping out on varied excuses. Sometimes he took  help of Munsi in this respect.
Rabindranath informed  the situation in vogue  to all the rich people at that time . He wrote,  "the guardians do not think that their  wards would have to pass the school and college education. Though at that time  we lost all our property but not the dignity."
Still the guardians had no other way than to steer the rudder." One day wrote the  eldest sister said, ' we all hoped that Rabi will be better in due course but all our hope was finished.'
Hence he had to finish his studies in Bengal Academy within a short time, less than two years. Rabindranath wrote that they were admitted in St. Xaviers School.
But their family cash book showed that they were admitted in Metropolitan School.
Sajani Kanta Das searching the records of St.Xaviers College informed that Rabi along with others probably admitted in 1874. But the records said that they did not attend school after their admission.
Dwijendranath wrote in a letter dated 6 Feb 1874  to Jyotirindranath  , " I teach them in the day time till 4 pm and a pandit is teaching in the morning. " Rabindranath wrote that Jnanchandra Bhattacharya was appointed as a teacher. Dwijendranath wrote to Gunendranath that there might be some negligency in Zamindary work for devoting time to their studies.
How long Dwijendranath taught them was not known.
Rabindranath mentioned in Jibansmriti that the  their English teacher Aghornath Chattopadhyay was having unusually good health  and he did not remain absent for a single day  inspite of their prayer to god for making him absent.Only once in his lifetime he got an injury on his head in the scuffle of the English student with that of the Bengalees. But  he did not remain absent more than one day.
So far as his learning in Sanskrit it was found that  a person named Heramba Tattwaratna was  appointed. The information received about his teaching it was learnt that they committed to memory the slokas of Mukundang Sacchidanandang and Mugdhabodh Grammer. Before this Rabindranath learnt Upakramanika and Rijupath Dwitiya bhag written by Vidyasagar during his tour to Bolpur, Amritsar,and Himalayas from his father.the routine they followed for their lesson was as follows;
Mon     Eng Prose   geom     Eng. History Sanskrit
Tue      Grammer     Algebra  Hist of India   Do
Wed     Eng Prose    Arith      Phy.geogr       Do
Thurs   Grammer Mens & alg   Eng. History  Do
Fri      Eng [ ?]        Arith       Gen.Geogr.   Do
Sat      Do            Geom       Hist of India      Do
Sun    Exercises   ......         ............           .......
The [?] was put as it was difficult to learn the lesson.
Prabodh Chandra Sen wrote, " the weekly routine seems to be "Gharer Para" lesson at home. because the importance given to Sanskrit was unusual in the curriculum of Anglo Indian School like Bengal Academy or St.Xaviers. The routine and the lesson seemed to be that of an Entrance Examination. the study hours for English was morning by Jnanchandra Bhattacharya, in the day time Dwijendranath taught them Mathematics, and in the evening Harinath Bhattacharya taught them Sanskrit. Only the teacher , Jnanchandra Bhattachrya, did successfully his duty. He taught them Political selection, Hiley's Grammer, and Wilson's etemology in the Douglus series.It seemed that they were being prepared for Entrance examination . But wards specially Rabindranath was determined to make them unsuccessful. Rabindranath wrote, " when he could not make me attentive he tried to teach me Macbeth in Bengali translation." Rabindranath translated the whole book in Bengali and it was finished before Jan 1975, probably before their admission in St. Xaviers.At this time Ramsarbbaswa Vidyabhusan of Vidyasagar School was appointed as a Sanskrit teacher. With reference to the translated form of Macbeth, Rabindranath wrote, ' Jnanchandra as because the book was lost, he was relieved of carrying a load on his head. "
Jnanchandra taught not only Macbeth but also  Kumarsambhab. though Rabindranath did not get it more than 3 sarga.
   Rabindranath, Somendranath and Satyprasad was admitted in St.Xaviers' Collegiate School in Feb 1975 , one class below the entrance class, i.e., in 5th class. In the present system it was class IX.There  were  many differences of St.Xaviers school from that of Calcutta Training Academy or Bengal Academy. The compound of the school was big with many trees and not like a cage. The teachers were also of different attidues. but still Rabindranath could not adjust himself even in this atmosphere. He wrote, " the environment and the scenarios all around of the school are so alienated from life which seemed like a jail or a hospital , Rabindranath could make himself fit."
But still the golden memory of the school was fresh for long time was due to a Professor, revarand Alfonsus D Penaranda [1834-96]. Rabindranath wrote , "I was about those days - perhaps a little later, in St. Xaviers' ...He was a Spanish Count and gave up all when he entered the order. He was a real  ascetic . He was a brilliant musicianand played xcellently on the Piano; but he gave up all for Jesus as he frequently say....He was a wonderful mathematician and astronomer. " His pronunciation was something different and the students was not attentive in his class. It seemed to Rabindranath that he was always in a worship mood. For copying half an hour was allotted in the routine. Rabindranath remained absent minded during this time. One day he came to him patted him and asked "Tagore, do you feel sick." Rabindranth remembered his affectionate attitude through out his life..
But Rabindranath did not like all other teachers of the school.
While Rabindranath remained absent from Bengal Academy, Munshi helped him.But he had to find himself ways to drop out from St. Xaviers' and he pretended to be sick. It was known from the family cash book and other sources that he possessed a good health at this time. It was found that only in three cases he was found to be sick. To make Rabindranath attentive Ramsaarbaswa Babu taught  him Sakuntala through translation and this helped him in writing "Banaful".
Any way , inspite of all the good wishes and arrangements,  Rabindranath was not  made  as was desired by his teachers. He was taught with the help of Macbeth, Kumarsambhab, Sakuntala etc
At the end of the year it was found that Rabindranath was not promoted to Entrance Class [ Class X], either he did not sit for the examination or he got plucked.
Rabindranath had many good students as his class mates, such as, Krishna Kishore basu, Nabakihore Basu, Srish Chandra Basu, Gokul Chandra De, ashutosh Dhar, and Kaliranjan Ghosh.It is to be mentioned here that Jagadish Chadra Basu passed entrance examination from St.Xaviers' School in Dec 1975 in the 1st Division. Later he had strong intimation with Rabindranath.
This is the end of formal education in India of Rabindranath in 1876. He discontinued his study in St. Xeviers Scool for being non-promoted and he started his education in Infant class in 1865 in Calcutta Training Academy. During this 10 years , 1865 - 1876, he had undergone Indian School Education.    

Servocracy to aristocracy.

On the way to home Rabindranath was petted by European ladies boarded in the train. He was moving with a servant . He was healthy and full of brightness with attractive features. He was well dressed with a hat on his head stitched with golden ribbon. This was the beginning of changes he had observed in the behavior of persons around him.
He found vivid changes after reaching home. He said, " when I reached home , it seemed that not only I returned home from other provinces, I entered within the inner apartments of a house. So long I was  in exile within my house. now I am completely free from servocracy and entered  in  aristocracy  " He got a seat in a  cot by the side of his mother's [ Sarada Debi] cot.
He could not forget the rules of the servants he got at that time when he was getting  love and affection from young female members from within the interiors.
Rabindranath explained thoroughly the child's psychology in Jibansmriti at this stage while he  mentioned  the growing attitude of himself. When he occupied a place in mother's room , he got sufficient indulgence from  his daughters-in-law
After returning home from the mountain he had to narrate his experiences  to all,from one door to another. There were some more attractive things for his mother. While reading in Normal School, Rabindranath described to his mother that the sun is very bigger than the earth , more than lacks miles. Usually thr people are accustomed to read Ramayan , translated in Bengali by Krittibas but Rabindranath read the original Ramayana in Sanskrit by Valmiki himself.His mother felt proud of her son who read Ramayana by Valmiki. Moreover she thought that his improvement was due to the traing of her husband Debendranath. .    

Journey as a part of education (contd-2)

They halted in Amritsar for a month and started for Dahousie in April 1873. Rabindranath became very eager to see Dalhousie. At first they went Pathankot from Amritsar by P.O. van and everyday they went out after taking some breakfast and in the evening took shelter in a Banglo. Whole day Rabindranath kept himself busy observing sight scenery and could not close his eyes lest he missed some new feature. Debendranath gave the responsibility of keeping the cash box containing expenditure on the way to  Rabindranath. But he was scolded for keeping the box on the table after reaching Dakbanglo as that was not safe. In this way the reached the summit Bacrota on the top of Dalhousie at the first part of Baishakh.
  There is a doubt about the creator of the song ,bhajan, the original of which is "gagan ma thal, Rabi Chandra dipakajale' written by Guru Na  translated form is Gaganer thale.In the index of brahmma sangeet published by Sadharan Brahmmo Samaj the writer of the song mentioned as Jyotirindranath. Also in the index of Adi Brahmmo  Samaj it is mentioned that the writer is Jyotirindranath.
But in the lifetime  of Rabindranath himself it is mentioned in the Rabindrapanji that the writer is Rabindranath. Indira Debi Choudhurani mentioned in the "Rabindrasangeeter Tribenisangam" mentioned that the song is translated by Jyotirindranath in line by line. Inspite of that the song is mentioned in Gitabitan 3rd vol as written by Rabindranath.
Debendranath with Rabindranath and his companion came to Bacrota on the top of Dalhousie at the beginning of 2nd week of Baisakh. Debendranath wrote to Rajnarayan Basu, "I have reached my favourite Bakrota. I am glad to receive your letter dated 7th Baisakh. Here Rabindrandra is alright and he is taken lesson in Sanskrit and English from me. I am also teaching him Brahmmoism."
They had their dwelling place on the top most place of a hill. Though it is Baisakh, it is heavy cold here.Ice does not melt here where sunshine does not fall.Just at the valley under the sitting place there is row of Pyne trees. Rabindranath used to walk on this valley with a stick having a metal cap at the end. the trees .The trees were standing with their shadows like giants. The v experience of Rabindranath was described very soon in "Banaphool" Kabya.
After lunch Debendranath get Rabindranath into lesson. He also taught him Astrology. Learning this subject was started from Santiniketan. In the open sky in the evening Debendranath  taught him about the planetary system and Rabindranath  listened curiously. He remembered that he wrote what he had heard from him and showed it to Debendranath. He explained before him all the theories orally as was explained in Richard A.Proctor. Rabindranath wrote him in Bengali what he had learnt from Debendranath. On the way to Bakrota they reached a banglo on the way and Debendranath  took a low wooden seat and sit there. When the darkness came in the evening the stars and planets became visible and Debendranath after discussing about the stars and planets showed different stars in the sky. The age of Rabindranath at that time was 12. Rabindranath began to write in Bengali what he heard from Debendranath.Thus he created a serial essays in Bengali on Science subjects.This is the beginning of creation of Essays on Bengali. They reached Bakrota, the top of Dalhousie and got a fine Banglo.
It is mentioned here that a serial essays in "Bharatbarsiya Jyotish Sastra". was seen to be published in Tattwabodhini as follows;
1. Jaishtha (p 30-32), 2. Asarh (p 64-67), 3. Aswin ( p 125-28), 4. Kartik (p 142-48), 5. Paush (p 184-88), 6. Magh (p 204-207).
Sajani Kanta Das, a researcher and a litterateur,wrote a letter on 12 Oct 1939 to Rabindranath bringing his notice  about this and got a reply from Rabindranath on 15th Oct,
" I wrote in Bengali in my own way which I learnt from Debendranath on Astrology . I remember that the articles were publish in Tattwabodhinki. There are two reasons for this. 1. The editor Anandachandra Bidhyabagis assured the boy that the articles will be published, 2. Some one else make the articles fit for publishing." .
Staying three months with his father in a journey to Dalhhousie Rabindranath came back home in June, 1873.
While staying in Himalayas Rabindranath had deep intimacy with Kishorinath Chattopadhyay, a follower and journey-mate of Devendranath. Once he was a singer in Panchali Dal. He frequently told Rabindranath that he could have formed grand panchali dal with his help. Rabindranath became greedy of his saying.He felt that it would have been a fortune to move from one place to another and sing songs of panchali. Rabindranath learnt to sing from him some panchali songs. " Ore bhai janakire niye eso ban", Pran-to antahalo amar kamal-anlkhi" etc.
Rabindranath wrote in Jibansmriti , " I remember distinctly that if I find in the press of Brahmmo samaj or in some other place, my name in printed form , I painted ink on the paper and put it on another paper to get a carbon copy. This I remember as a memorable day."
    

Journey as a part of education (contd-1)

Halting for some period in Bolpur they went to Sahebgunge, danapur,allahabad, Kanpur, Aligarh.  They took some rest in one place and then went to the next one. Ultimately, they reached Amritsar.
Rabindranath remembered an incident occurred within the train on the way to Amritsar. When the  train stopped in a big station, a ticket collector examined the ticket of the boy and  fetched another one . They after discussing among themselves called for the station master who after examining the half-ticket of the boy and asked Debendranath whether the boy did not cross twelve years. Debendranath answered in the negative. Actually Rabindranath was 11yrs 10 months at that time. But the station master was insisting for full ticket. The eyes of Debendranath became red in anger and gave him a note from the box. The station master wanted to return the balance which Debendranath threw away the balance and the coins were jumping with a sound. This time Rabindranath felt the braveness and truthfulness  in Debendranath and became proud.
They reached Amritsar in Mar 1873.
     Rabindranath wrote in his manuscript [ 1st edition] of Jibansmriti, It was arranged as their accommodation  in a huge garden house outside the city;  " While I was getting  some leisure after my study I used to go to  the big garden and walked round it. There was a mulberry tree  by the side of the large masonry-well. I used to pick up the fruit and eat them.Through out the day water are being poured in the canals of the trees by the horses carrying leather bags. I still remember the sound to raise the water from the well and the songs sung by the person in a loud voice with melancholy sound. "
It is to be mentioned here that many books were purchased while Rabindranath was going to Bolpur and he was taking lesson in English and Sanskrit from his father Debendranath. This lesson was continuing even after coming to Amritsar. Rabindranath wrote, to give me lesson in English my father bought for me a series like "Peter Parley'stales", he also bought for me as a lesson the biography of Benjamin Franklin. he was also bought "Sanskrita Byakaraner Upakramanika" for teaching Sanskrit. While teaching  lesson on different subjects  Rabindranath had to commit to memories the lines of Mugdhabodh written by Heramba Tattwaratna.
Rabindranath went to Swarna Mandir along with his father for many days in the morning on  foot. Religious songs and reciting of Granthsaheb. Debendranath  joined with their chorus many times.
One day he invited one singer among them and listened Bhajan from him.
In the evening he wanted to listen Brahmma Song and Rabindranath was called for..Rabindranath sung in the rag behag,
"tumi bina ke pravu sankat nibare" 

Journey as a part of education

Dengu fever spread through out  Calcutta  in 1872 when Rabindranath was 11 years old. National paper wrotre in this respect, "Dengu is now in violent rage in Calcutta, sparing neither age,sex nor rank. " National Paper marked that due to this disease the attendance of schools and colleges were diminished  in such a way that the institutions had to give a closure notice. When the disease took a massive epidemic , the well to do men had to shift their family to a suitable place. Rabindranath wrote that a portion of their big family had to be shifted to Panihati, at Chatu Babu's garden house. This was the first time Rabindranath saw a place outside his own house at Jorasanko. Sarala Debi wrote that the garden house was owned by Debendranath at that time. Sarala Debi mentioned that  the ceremony of her first eating rice was celebrated gorgeously when she was 6 months old. Consulting the family cash book it was found that from Jaistha to 18 Asarh the building at Panihati was taken on rent. Rabindranath wrote that this was the first time he came out of the house at Jorasanko. " The bank of the Ganges took me in her lap due to some effects of my previous birth. This attraction to river was the first of its kind which was seen through out his life. Everyday Rabindranath felt that the day was rapped in a letter with golden ribbon.Lest a portion of scenery goes out of his sight, he came at the verandah and took his seat on small wooden seat.they came back after the epidemic subsides. At later age Rabindranath again came to this spot.

Journey to Himalayas

In this year another important incident took place. The ceremony of wearing sacred thread of Rabindranath, Somendranath and Satyprasad took place. But it became difficult for Rabindranath to go the European school, Bengal Academy. In the mean time, Debendranath adsked Rabindranath whether he was willing to go to Himalayas.This was a great opportunity for Rabindranath to accompany his father to Himalayas. Some books, one dozen woolen shocks , complete dress with cap having golden ribbon at its border.


      They reached Bolpur by car on14 Feb 1872. This was the first step to Santiniketan, Bolpur, where he passed last 40 years of his life. How paddy looks in the field , Rabindranath had no idea. He had curiosity to observe it. For the first time in Santiniketan he saw paddy field. In later days he expressed in an essay, how he saw Bolpur,
"At that time Bolpur city did not take a congested shape. The smoke of the rice mills did not cover the sky and bad smell coming out of it did not spoil the breeze. Very few people were seen to move in the red coloured street spread within the open space.The water in the dam was full to the brim . It was not cornered by the sediment-ed growing paddy field. There were rows of palmtrees on the west bank. this is known as Khoyai, Rain water flows through the bed strewn with stones. The path was covered by the stones of different size."
Rabindranath was collecting stones all the noon through the Khoyai river and gave them to Debendranath who did not discourage him rather asked him to dig a pond. Though it was not a successful venture, a heaps of mud was collected. Debendranath asked Rabi to decorate  the heaps of mud with the stones.
There was a deep hole by the side of Khoyai and water was collected within the hole where small fishes were seen moving. It was very pleasant to go deep in the hole after taking off all the dresses. Rabindranath said his father it would be good to bring water for drinking and bathing from this place. Debendranath arranged to bring water from that place as a gift to this young talents.
To make  responsible Debendranath handed over  his golden watch to Rabindranath and asked to wind it regularly. Responsibility of Rabindranath grew in such a way that after some time the watch had to send to Calcutta for repair. Rabindranath was also given the charge of distributing small amount money to the beggar and keep the records of receipts and expenditure. But Rabindranath could not keep the records properly.
Everyday in the morning Rabindranath used to take lessons from his father in English and Sanskrit.. The rest of the time through out the day he was free to do as he liked.
In Panihati , he also had freedom , freedom of thought but in Santiniketan he got freedom of thought as well as movement. His power of writing poetry  was gradually growing. In the mean time instead of blue coloured khata he got a hard bound letts' diary
The power of writing poetry was gradually growing in this atmosphere. He wrote a Kaby Grantha full of heroism, titled, Prithirajer Paraajoy.Pravat Kumar Mukhopadjhyay wrote that the fact was reflected in the drama Rudrachanda written by Rabindranath.  The idea of this story was taken from the translated work of Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (1829-32) by the poet Surendranath Majumdar. Prithirajer Paraajoy is the first kabya grantha of Rabindranath written at the age of twelve . Though it could not be traced out.

Rabindranath as a poet, Bhanu Sing

Rabindranath started writing alphabets in 1866 at the age 5+, he was admitted to school, first in Oriental Seminary and then to Normal Schhol in 1868 at the age of seven, and he started writing poetry in 1869 at the age of eight, just after  one year of attending Normal School. He was urged by his elder brother, Somendranath, to recite these poems to people in the mansion - including a  Brahmo Nationalist, a news paper editor and organizer of Hindu Mela. He became known as a poet in Normal School where he impressed his teachers of his ability in writing poetry.
His first composition , a translation titled "Paulabarjini" from Bernoda The  Sna Peer, was published in Abodhbandhu in a serial  .
He was born in an atmosphere where literary magazines were published, musical recitals were held, and theatre performed. He was influenced by his elder brothers like Dwijendranath, Satyendranath, Jyotirindranath, Hemendranath and others who were always engaged in literary and cultural activities.
In 1874, at th age of thirteen, his first  poem Abhilash (desire) was published under the alias, Bhanu Singha.

In the opinion of Rabindranath there should be freedom of reading even to the boys. He was not in favor of putting  any bar of age to readers. Might be that the juniors were not in a position to understand the difficult portion of the text. In boyhood days he used to read all the books, magazines, even those which he might  not understand. He tried to follow the meaning with his imagination.

There was a big library of old books and magazines in Thakur Bari,  kept under lock and key for safety. Rabindranath managed to get the key  and open the almirah. He was in the habit reading  books and magazines. He read BIBIDHA BHARATI SANGRAHA of Rajendra Lal Mitra, Novel of Krishnakumari, books of Science and Anthropology, a small paper ABODH BANDHU and Banga Darshan of Bankim Chandra. He was fond of reading classical books of Sarada Charan Mitra and Akshoy Sarker  and of Bidyapati written in Maithali language. He used to collect all the magazines of which Dwijendranath and Jyotirindranath were customers and read them. He also took notes of the difficult portions from those writings.

He gathered, by this time, a vast knowledge in Bengali, Sanskrit, and English by learning at home.

He got Akshoy Chandra Choudhury, a friend of Jyotirindranath, as his beloved guide for Bengali literature of Baishnabpadabali, Kabikankan, Ramprasad, Bharatchandra, Haruthakur, Rambasu, Nidhubabu, Sreedhar etc

Home tutors of Rabindranath

Rabindranath's formal education was brief. He had changed schools four times (Oriental Seminary, Normal School, Bengal Academy, St. Xavier's School) in eight years (1868-1876). Then he tried to study law in UK for about two years (1878-1880) and came back home without obtaining any degree. He again attempted to go to England but after reaching Madras he changed his mind. To become a graduate one has to undergo 10+2+2=14 years of study. But he had undergone only 10 years of study and did not secure any formal diploma. During this time, however, he did not spoil any single moment. He followed  strictly a daily time table from morning till night and was tutored at home by his brothers (Hemendranath and Dwijendranath) and by his father, Devendranath during journey to Dalhousie and 20 private tutors on different subjects including wrestling, swimming, trekking. He was so equipped during this time that he could translate Kumarsambhaba from Sanskrit to Bengali  and Macbeth from English to Bengali, both in verse. He had filled up a Blue Book obtained from the office of the Tagore family with own written verses at the age of eight and started his life in literary work both as a  writer and a performer and established himself as a poet, a singer, a playwriter, a mu 

Music a part of education of Rabindranath

From this year, Jyotirindranath was getting importance in Tagore family. He was practicing music since long. The orchestra of " Nabanatak" was his composition.He learnt Setar after going Bombay with Satyendranath. His musical endeavor was expressed in the celebration of 39th Maghotsab of Brahmosamaj [29th Jan 1869]. The presence of Debendranath after coming back from the Himalayas added much more enthusiasm.After the separation of Brahmo Samaj with Keshab Chanadra, this was the first celebration. About 15 songs were sung on this occasion. Jyotirindranath also spoke few lines on this occasion.This had great impact on Rabindranath which was referred in Jibansmriti, 1st edition. Rabindranath said that they were being brought here within a musical atmosphere since our childhood. He could not remember when he was not able to sing. He remembered that they were used to celebrate Maghotsab in imitation. He rembered that they were singing in a loud voice the song, "dekhile tomar sei atul prem-anane"
It is to be noted that the wave of music was prevalent in Jorasanko Thakur Bari since very beginning . Debendranath had taken lesson of Piano from an European and later he practiced vocal music from expert [ostad]. From the time of Rammohan Roy  Bengali songs are prepared by replacing Bengali words in Hindi songs. and  sung as Brahmo songs. This  was in vogue even at the time of Debendranath.  His sons Dwijendranath, Satyendranath, Hemendranath, Jyotirindranath etc took part as a singer in these celebrations.His son-in-law Saradaprasad took lesson of Sitar from the expert Juyalaprasad . Apart from this Bisnu Chakrabarty, a singer, was a whole time paid singer. He used to sing since Rammohan Roy. He gave composition to many songs written by the sons of Debendranath and Debendranath himself. He was also the music teacher of Tagore family. From his childhood Rabindranath also took lesson from Bishnu Chakrabarty.
    

Rabitalent begins with poetry (1868 - 1869)

Rabindranath started writing poems at the age of 7-8. Rabindranath wrote in this context, "My age at that time doesn't exceed 7-8 when one of my nephew , Jyotyprakash [ son of the elder sister Kadambini of Gaganendranath and Jogneshprakas ], some older than myself, inspired me to write poems which I cannot express. . One day in the noon he called at me in his room and said, you have to write poems." Saying this he made me  understand how to write Payar [Bengali measure of verse consisting of two lines each containing 14 letters  in a line and gave me a slate and ask to construct a poem on Lotus. By that time  I became accustomed by reading Ramayana and Mahabharata, many times, to understand what is  a poetry.I wrote few lines. Jyoti encouraged me."
Jyotiprakas was the first preceptor of Rabindranath in writing poems.
Rabindranath  got some blue-coloured fulls cape papers from the family office, drawn some oblique lines and began to write, with his beginners handwriting
some lines with pencils.
His elder brother Somendranath became pleased with the talents of his brother and took the responsibility of propagating this incident. One day Somendranath asked Nabagopal Mitra, editor of National Paper, to lisson a poem written by Rabindranath. Nabaagopal Babu heard with difficulty a poem writtren by Rabindranath and asked the meaning of a letter "Dwiref" used in the poetry. Though Rabindranath himself did not know  actually the meaning of the  word still the word seemed to him very sweet and he did not want to change it.
The two poems , one written at the request of Jyotiprakas and the other narrated before Nabagopal Babu, were written with lotus as subject. Rabindranath wrote in his "chelebala' " I remember that once I wrote a poem on Lotus in Payar rythm and expressed with grief that when I wanted to catch the lotus by swimming it goes beyond my reach as I approached to touch it."
Another poem was mentioned here at this time, given below;

Rabindranath had a good fortune since he began to write poetry i blue coloured Khata. Rabindranath wrote in Jibansmriti, 1st edition, " I was afraid of my Sejdada . One day Satya took my Khata and gave it to him. When I was hiding  myself thinking that to misuse  time by writing poems would be a severe offense, in the meantime my Khata was returned without any bad remarks."

Rabindranath's formal education

Rabindranath's attendance at Bengal Academy did not improve. He was frequently absent on one lame excuse or another, even after returning from the Himalayas.  He was then admitted to St.Xevier's school along with his other brothers. But the result was the same. In the meantime, Sarada Devi, wife of Devendranath, died in 1875,  when Ranindranath was fourteen years old. At the death of such a well organised housewife of the family, every thing became disorderly. The elder sisters and sisters-in-law of Rabindranath, being sympathetic to him,  also did not press him to go to school.

At home, Rabindranath began to study Bengali books, Bengali magazines and anything which he could lay his hands on. Specially, he began to study Baishnab Padabali. As a result, he was not promoted to the next class after the end of the year. This led to the discontinuation of his going to school and that  was the end of his school education at the age of 14+ when he was reading fifth standard, i.e., class VI.  The summary of his School education was as follows :

  1. At the age of 5 - in 1866 - Rituals for first lesson was done along with Somendranath.

  2. At the age of 7- in 1868- he was admitted to Oriental Seminary and then to Normal School.

                                                         3. At the age of 10- in 1871- he was transferred to Bengal Academy, an Anglo-Indian School with the intention of  acquiring a better vocabulary in English.

                                                         4. At the age of 13- in 1874- he was admitted to St. Xavier's School. The last Indian School where he was admitted.

About five years had elapsed since Rabindranath returned from the Himalayas and there was no sign of improvement in his formal education. The anxious guardians were wondering whether he might be sent to England for studying law but before that he was sent to Ahmedabad to his second elder brother, Satyendranath, to improve his English vocabulary.
Satyendranath stayed in a big house meant for the Judge at Shahibag, on the bank of Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad.  During the day, Satyendranath used to remain in the court and his wife and children were in London at that time. Rabindranath usually passed his time in the library reading books, specially in English with the help of a dictionary and using his imagination.
Simultaneously, he was writing articles for "Bharati" on various famous Eurpean writers. He roamed about the house from top to bottom and sang to himself.  His first music composition in music of a set of songs was created here- "Nirab rajani dyakho mogna jochanaya", "Boli o amar golap bala" and others.  He wrote poetry also which were simply translations of English poems.
But he could not develop  his vocabulary in English alone. He was removed to the house of a friend of Styendranath, Atmaram Panduranga, whose daughter, Anna, was well versed in English. Rabindranath was a poet and used to recite poems several times which the girl would commit to memory. One day, she asked Rabindranath to give her a name. Rabindranath gave her a name and wrote a poem using the word. Anna used to listen songs of Rabindranath almost everyday and they became closely acquainted. Rabindranath remembered her even in his old age.  In the "Shaishab Sangeet Kabya,"  there are references to  his close relationship with Anna. 

Rabindranath's formal education was brief. He had changed schools four times (Oriental Seminary, Normal School, Bengal Academy, St. Xavier's School) in eight years (1868-1876). Then he tried to study law in UK for about two years (1878-1880) and came back home without obtaining any degree. He again attempted to go to England but after reaching Madras he changed his mind. To become a graduate one has to undergo 10+2+2=14 years of study. But he had undergone only 10 years of study and did not secure any formal diploma. During this time, however, he did not spoil any single moment. He followed  strictly a daily time table from morning till night and was tutored at home by his brothers (Hemendranath and Dwijendranath) and by his father, Devendranath during journey to Dalhousie and 20 private tutors on different subjects including wrestling, swimming, trekking. He was so equipped during this time that he could translate Kumarsambhaba from Sanskrit to Bengali  and Macbeth from English to Bengali, both in verse. He had filled up a Blue Book obtained from the office of the Tagore family with own written verses at the age of eight and started his life in literary work both as a  writer and a performer and established himself as a poet, a singer, a playwriter, a m

Journey to Himalayas - 1873, as a part of education

Journey to Himalayas with father Devendranath as a part of education

In Adi Brahmo Samaj the ritual of Sacred Thread ceremony was in vogue. Devendranath got the celebration done for his two youngest sons Somendranath and Rabindranath along with Satyaprasad, the son of his eldest daughter. It was in 1873, when Rabindranath was 11 years and 9 months old, but he took it seriously
and observed all the rituals though it was not possible for him to follow all the

meanings of the Mantras. Its influence lingered even in his old age.  He had become a Brahmin but with his shaved head  it became difficult for him to go to School. At this time his father offered to take him to the Himalayas,  which he accepted at once. He felt so excited that he wanted to express his willingness by shouting like a thunder.
This was the first time he would enjoy the  world outside and the company of his father which was also unknown to him.
At first they went to Shantiniketan and stayed there for a few days. It was a mere village at that time in 1873. About 4-5 Kilometers away from Bolpur station, Devendranath had purchased 20 bighas of land and constructed a one storied building there with bricks and given it the name "Shantiniketan".   All around there were open meadows, an unfinished pond and at a distance there was a dam in Bhubandanga village and  rows of palm-trees, non-existent today.
Later on Devendranath established an Ashram and a temple there.
This was the first outing for Rabindranath, in 1873, at the age of 11yrs and 9 months.
Devendranath used to stay away from home for his work and could not devote  time to his children. This was the quite the usual practice at that time-- for the father to keep himself at a respectable distance from the children. After coming to Bolpur, Rabindranath got the chance to come into close contact with his father and could help him out, such as winding his watch, keeping cash and accounts etc. He also got ample opportunity to roam around as he liked. The peaceful environment of Shantiniketan helped him in his creative work. In Shantiniketan, under a small coconut tree, he wrote a lyrical-drama, "Prthwiraj  Parajay", the manuscript of this book is lost. However, the lyrical-drama "Rudrachandra" might be of a similar type.
They left Bolpur after a few days and went to Amritsar, halting at several places - Sahibganj, Danapur, Allahabad, Kanpur etc

Early Education of Rabindranath

Early Education of Rabindranath

Rabindranath Tagore had a sweet voice from his childhood .Thakurbari was always full of literary activities, songs and dramas. But that was amongst the elders, children were not allowed to enter. Dwijendranath, the eldest son of   Devendranath, was then writing a Kabya, "Swapnaprayan", which he used to recite for others to listen. Rabindranath, standing by the side of the door, listened and learnt the verses by heart. Rabindranath said that he could not remember how he learnt to sing. Sreekantha Singh, a friend of Devendranath and el Singing was his passion. He was always absorbed in music. He was appointed for teaching songs but he did not teach songs, he gave them lessons only. Bishnu Chakraborty was a singer of  Adi Brahmo Samaj; he gave them the first lesson in how to sing. Rabindranath did not take regular tuition. Finally, Jadu Bhatta became their vocal music teacher. But Rabindranath  learnt singing in his own way- from servants, from gypsy women, from Bauls and from here and there, from whatever he heard. These were the first lessons of Rabindranath  before he went into formal education.
He and the other children had to pass most of their time with Ishwar or to be more precise,  Brajeshwar. Once he was a village-teacher. He was entrusted to train the children. At that time there was no electricity, there were Kerosene or other oil lamps. Childrens used to sit around him and hear the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata in the dim light of the lamp. After dinner, when they went to bed, a maid told them bed time stories of galloping horses on vast stretches of land, till all of them were sound asleep.  

Rabindranath started his education when he was 3+ [ 1864-1865]. Khagendranath Chattopadhyay wrote , "he started his education before he was 5 years old.But it was customary at that time even in Tagore's family that education starts after the ceremony of first lesson. Prof. Prabodh Chandra Sen wrote about his first  lesson  that immediate after he finished alphabets from from his mentor he studied " sishu Bodhak" [ Child's Instructor] .
After some oral education of songs, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Thakumar Jhuli etc Rabindranah got his first lesson from "Barnaparichyaya" from his home tutor Madhab Pandit.Rabindranath had a good memory and quickly finished the spelling lessons of "KARA, KHALA , JALA etc and came to short sentences --Jala Pare, Pata Nare. By this time his imagination had sparked and he thought that he was gradually entering into the area of  "Adi kabita of Adi Poet" and the line was continually vibrating through his mind --Jala Pare Pata Nare. Rabindranath was getting his education at home but when he saw that his elder brothers (Somendranath and Satyaprasad) were going to School he began to cry and wanted to go with them. At this Madhab Pandit got angry and slapped him and said that now he was crying for going to school, a time would come when he would cry to avoid going to school. 
Rabindranath said in his old age that the forecast made by his home tutor was the most accurate that he had come across in his life. 
He was admitted to the Infant Class of Calcutta Training Academy at the end of 1965., Gourmohan Addya established the School. The school was running at that time in the house of Gorachand Basak of Garanhata). This was the first school he attended, along with his elder brothers Somendra and his nephew Satyaprasad. Rabindranath, Somendra (Rabindranath called him DADA) and Satyaprasad went to school together. He could not remember the lesson he got in the Oriental Seminary. He remembered only the punishment a student got for being unable to  answer any question about his home task. He was asked to stand up on the bench and extend both of his hands. Then slates, one after another, was kept on his extended hands.

After few days,  the guardians transferred  all the wards to Normal School, where the method of teaching was of European style. The school started after a prayer song.  One line in the song was -full of glee, singing merrily, merrily, merrily. This school was established under the guidance of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in 1855. At that time the School was held in Jorasanko, in the house of Shyamlal Mallik, very close to the Thakur bari.
Rabindranath expressed in his " Jibansmriti" that he was not happy at the School because of the rough behaviour of the teachers. The behaviour of one of the teachers was so nasty that he refused to answer any of his questions.
But he secured highest mark in the annual Bengali Examination taken by his Bengali teacher Madhusudan Bachaspati . The Class Teacher could not believe this and he complained to the Headmaster that Madhusudan Babu might have been partial. At this, Rabindranath was re-examined and the superintendant became the invigilator during the examination. The second time also Rabindranath secured the highest mark.
This was the only known result of an examination taken by Rabindranath during his student life.
Rabindranath was admitted to the Normal School at the age of 7 years. Rabindranath wrote a short story, Ginni, remembering this school. After  one year when his age was about eight he was forced to write a poem by one of his nephews, Jyotyprakash Gangopadhyaya (1855-1919), son of Kadambini Devi (the eldest sister of Gunendranath). Jyotyprakash was six years older than Rabindranath. He was reading, at that time, English literature, especially Hamlet, and was always reciting the dialogues.
One day, in the day time, he called Rabindranath and said that he had to write a poem.  Jyotyprakash explained to Rabindranath the Payar Chanda containg 14 words in a line.
Rabindranath at that stage had seen poetry only in the books.  It appeared to him as neat and clean with no overwriting or scribbling in it. There was no hesitation. He could not imagine that he could write such a thing only by his mere will. However, he collected some blue papers with the help of an office staff of Tagore family, drew some lines, running in different directions, and tried to write something with his hand. Somendranath, the brother immediately elder to Rabindranath, became delighted with this and began collecting listeners for Rabindranath's potery. Somendra always encouraged Rabindranath to keep writing poetry and he acted as his oral publisher.  One day he caught Nabagopal Babu, the editor of "National Paper", and persuaded him to listen.  On hearing the poetry, Nabagopal Babu said it was alright but he could not understand the meaning of the word "DWIREF". Now the words  DWIREF and BHRAMAR,  in Bengali, both contained three letters, and why he used the former one and where from he got the word, Rabindranath could not recollect.
Govinda Babu was the superindentent of Normal School. He was short, fat and dark. His office room was on the first floor. One day, Rabindranath entered in his room fearfully to report torture by some of the naughty boys of the school. Govinda Babu took pity on him and one day he called Rabindranath to his room and asked that whether he wrote poetry. Rabindranath was pleased and confirmed the rumour.  He asked Rabindranath to write a poem on some difficult topic. Rabindranath did so and brought the poem the next day. Govinda Babu took Rabindranath to the class and told him to read it. Rabindranath recited the poem loudly.
In 1871, Rabindranath was admitted to the Bengal Academy, an Anglo-Indian School.   
In the year 1872 when he was about 11 years old, he got the opportunity of going out of town for the first time due to a Dengue (1872-1873) epidemic in Calcutta.

All of them went to a garden-house at Panihati near the Ganges. In front of the servant's quarter there was a  guava tree and through  two of its branches  Rabi could see large boats  sailing  in the Ganges.

That blue coloured copy book was gradually being filled up with poetry and he always welcomed the news of its circulation.
Satkari Dutta was not a teacher in the class where  Rabindranath was reading but he was sympathetic to Rabindranath. One day he asked Rabindranath that whether he wrote poetry. On hearing in the affirmative he gave him two lines and asked him to fill up next two lines; Rabindranath did this nicely. Thus he gradually became known as a poet and he got a new avenue in his life which he maintained till his death.   

This time his  third elder brother Hemendranath, a good student in Science, was in charge of supervising their all round development. He narrated a daily routine to be followed by every body from morning till night. In the morning , after rising from  bed, they had to practice wrestling with an one eyed wrestler. Then they had to take their lessons with all the muds and sands in their body. The   home tutors for Bengali, Mathematics, History and Geography would come. Then they had to go to school. After coming back from the school, at about four,  they had to attend drawing classes with the drawing-master and then Gymnastics. In the evening followed English lessons. At this time they were about to fall asleep and the elder Brother Dwijendranath on seeing this allowed them to go to bed. Rabi , at this opportunity, used to go to his mother's room.
Every Sunday, Science teacher used to come with the apparatus for demonstrations. Rabi happened to get interested The passion, Rabindranath had for science, was due to this. Moreover, for training in the Bengali literature Meghnadbadkabya was chosen. Rabindranath wrote a critical review of this book which was published in ".Bharati".
The boys had to leave Normal School and be admitted in Bengal Academy, an European School, for their training in English. Here Rabindranath  got a . Rabindranath has mentioned his name in his book.
The interest of Rabindranath Tagore developed in books rather than in his study materials. He took books from his elder brother, Dwijendranath's library e.g.,   "Abodhbandhu" and Bividharta Sangraha. Rabindranath beacame a fan of poet Biharilal Chakraborty.
In 1872, at the age of eleven, Rabindranath finished "Bangadarshan" from beginning to the end.

Childhood of Rabindranath [1861-1864]

Some changes in the family of Debendranath (1817-1905), before and after the birth of Rabindranath, had occured. 1.  Debendranath at the age of 26 ( 22nd Dec. 1843) was initiated in  Brahmmo Dharmma and discarded all sorts of idolatry which could not please Dwarakanath (1794 -1846), 2. Debendranath and his brother Girindranath (1820-1854) lived in a joint family in the same house and the children of both Debendranath and Girindranath were being brought up together. But they were being separated after the death of Dwarakanath and Debendranath had to live his 3.After the  death of Dwarakanath, Debendranath had to repay all the loans incurred by Dwarakanath with a great difficulty. The death of Dwarakanath caused separation of his property among his children and Debendranath had changed his dwelling place.
It was customary for the rich to hand over the child after birth to two attendants. One had to provide the child by breast feeding and the other had to look after the child. The name of one of the attendant of Rabindranath was Digambari or Digmi.
Saudamini Debi (1847-1920),photo left, the
fifth child or first daughter of Debendranath wrote about   the religious ceremony connected with  the child birth was  withdrawn by Debendranath since he became Brahmo. Hence after the birth of Rabindranath all types of idolatry on the day  of  his first eating rice was cancelled. The priests used to take part on these occasions had severe exchanges with Debendranath. The low wooden seat where white paintings were done for first eating rice of Rabi were perforated with holes on all sides at the instruction of Debendranath. Candles were placed on the holes in rows and they were asked to kindle those candles. Thus on the day of first eating rice of Rabindranath candles were burning around his name and blessings were ushered on him from these burning candles.
Among the important incidents 1863 when Rabindranath was two years old , the  eldest  son, Dwipendranath,  of Dwijendranath was born . He was one year and two months younger than Rabindranath. Another important incident was taken on lease a land, 20 Bighas,  attached to the dam of Bhubandanga  near Bolpur owned by Pratap Singh of Roypur on 1 March 1863. the youngest brother Budhendra of Rabindranath was born in 1863.Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 Jan 1863.

 He (called Rabi) was born in a family of mixed culture of East and West. He wrote in his autobiography - My life in my words -
    "there was something remarkable in our family. it was as if we lived close to the age of pre-Puranic India through our commitment to the Upanishads. As a boy, I grew up reciting slokas from the Upanishads with a clear enunciation. We had no experience of the emotional excesses prevalent in Bengal's religious life. My father's spiritual life was quiet and controlled."
They had a genuinely deep love of English literature. Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott had a strong influence over their family.
Rabi felt proud of having witnessed three revolutionary movements in his family during his father's time.
  1. He was proud, for his father was one of the great leaders of the movement, a movement for whose sake he suffered ostracism and braved social indignities.
  2. A literary revolution of which Bankim Chandra Chatterjee of Bengal was the pioneer.
  3. The third one was the emergence of nationalism. He was proud that the people of his country started asserting their own personality and began to raise their voice against the indignity and the humiliation imposed upon them by the British colonisers.
Rabindranath Tagore had a sweet voice from his childhood .Thakurbari was always full of literary activities, songs and dramas. But that was amongst the elders, children were not allowed to enter. Dwijendranath, the eldest son of   Devendranath, was then writing a Kabya, "Swapnaprayan", which he used to recite for others to listen. Rabindranath, standing by the side of the door, listened and learnt the verses by heart. Rabindranath said that he could not remember how he learnt to sing. Sreekantha Singh, a friend of Devendranath and el Singing was his passion. He was always absorbed in music. He was appointed for teaching songs but he did not teach songs, he gave them lessons only. Bishnu Chakraborty was a singer of  Adi Brahmo Samaj; he gave them the first lesson in how to sing. Rabindranath did not take regular tuition. Finally, Jadu Bhatta became their vocal music teacher. But Rabindranath  learnt singing in his own way- from servants, from gypsy women, from Bauls and from here and there, from whatever he heard. These were the first lessons of Rabindranath  before he went into formal education.
He and the other children had to pass most of their time with Ishwar or to be more precise,  Brajeshwar. Once he was a village-teacher. He was entrusted to train the children. At that time there was no electricity, there were Kerosene or other oil lamps. Childrens used to sit around him and hear the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata in the dim light of the lamp. After dinner, when they went to bed, a maid told them bed time stories of galloping horses on vast stretches of land, till all of them were sound asleep.
Rabindranath mentioned in his Jibansmriti and Chelebala the names of attending servants as Ishwar (alias Brajeshwar), Shyam, and Bente Gobinda. Ishwar was a village teacher.
The elder brother Somendranath and nephew  Satyaprasad were two years older than Rabindranath but they were being brought together. Rabindranath wrote that Rabindranath started his lesson when they were going taking their lessons from their teachers. Books for his first lesson were purchased when he was three years and eight months old. After finishing the lesson " kara,khala" Rabindranath started sentences " Jal Parhe, pata narhe".