Kolkata :
“All our dwelling places contain varied partnerships of love…” Tagore wrote in 1935. What about is own spaces? Have they withstood the onslaught of time?
Not quite. One of the revered addresses that have been deleted forever is 49 Park Street where ‘Gitabitan’ and ‘Mayar Khela’ were composed. Researchers have recently recorded 57 places where the bard lived. Sixteen of them were in Kolkata, 14 in the Hills and 27 in south Bengal.
In a prelude to an ambitious heritage-tourism project of the government titled Tagore Circuit, history professors Shouvik Mukhopadhyay, Partha Sankha Majumdar and Ramanuj Mukherjee, at the behest of the West Bengal Heritage Commission (WBHRC), have come up with dates, anecdotes, addresses and several startling revelations about the poet.
Take Birjitalao where ‘Raja O Rani’ was staged and Tagore played Bikram in the 19th century. Wife Mrinalini played Narayani — her only stage appearance. The poet would frequent this house, rented by brother Satyendranath, next to the St Paul’s Cathedral.
“Indira Devi in her memoirs attests that the present day Calcutta Club was located on this land,” reads the study in its avatar as a coffee-table book. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has a foreword: “Tagore has stayed in many different places which have earned for themselves the distinction of being temples of creativity, knowledge, literature, beyond any parallel.”
WBHRC chairman Shuvaprasanna writes: “The history of these abodes… testifies to the insight of a complete artist… throw light on the mental upheaval of a creative person who was never confided to a single place.”
Tagore would keep visiting the Hills; some of these structures continue to exist. The house that Scottish shipping magnate Daniel Hamilton built for the poet at Gosaba is one of the best maintained structures. But 16 such dwellings in Kolkata don’t exist any longer. The list includes 52/2 Park Street, 50 Park Street, 14 Lower Circular Road (now AJC Bose Road) and 237 Lower Circular Road. Soon after his marriage, the poet started living here and Mrinalini was admitted to Loreto House. Tagore wrote ‘Chhobi O Gaan’ here. Businessman Naliniranjan Sarkar later erected a building here. It’s now the Kolkata Police’s Foreigners Regional Registration Office.
“In a country like ours, it’s not possible to protect such buildings unless they are enlisted. The research on Tagoreean abodes is a significant beginning for such initiatives,” said Partha Ranjan Das, member, WBHR.
Places like 10 Sudder Street where Tagore lived with Jyotirindranath and his wife Kadambari Devi continue to exist. But the only trace of Tagore here is a plaque that reads that ‘Nirjharer Swapnobhango’ was composed here. After changing hands, the building is now Hotel Plaza.
The grand exception is the Art College, an enlisted heritage building. From 1928, the poet frequented the residential quarters of then principal Mukul Dey here and exhibited his paintings in February, 1932.
“His journey was external, physical as well as internal. The constraint of space often made him impatient and he continuously changed his locations, not only by moving outside but also relentlessly changing his dwelling places. Fluidity was integral to his creative genius,” write the researchers.
“The research is our labour of love, but there’s no stopping here. We are working on how the constant change of residences played a crucial role in Tagore’s creative genius,” said Mukhopadhyay. Both he and Majumdar have studied in Santiniketan.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN / December 28th, 2014