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Women of the Tagore Household IN a society where women were reduced to be glorified slaves, and where social evils like child marriage, polygamy and the practice of satidaha were rampant, the women of Tagore family carved a niche for themselves in activities like horse riding, travelling to England, attending parties at the Viceregal Palace, lecture-tours in the USA, school education, lessons in painting, music, play-acting, writing books, participation in the national movement and establishment of various women’s organisations.
For instance, the first court case relating to the rights of a Hindu widow regarding inheritance was filed in the Supreme Cour, by Gobindaram’s wife Rampriya against the great-grandfather of Debendranath. Swarnkumari, Debendranath’s daughter, was the first successful woman writer of Bengali literature. Apart from Rabanidranath, no other member of the Tagore family was such a prolific writer. Before she had finished her education, Swarnkumari wrote an entire novel. Apart from novels, she wrote satires, poetry, songs, humorous skits, non-fictional articles, travelogues, musical plays, reminiscences and school texts. Sarala, Swaranakumari’s daughter, was the first Indian woman to bring patriotic songs to the masses. She contributed lyrics, poems, short stories, novels, comedies, criticism and translations. The desire in her for a spiritual life was entirely due to the influence of Swami Vivekananda. Jnanadanandini, the second daugher-in-law of Debendranath, wife of Satendranath Tagore, the first Indian to join the Civil Services, was the first Tagore woman to step out of doors. She visited England, in the days when travelling by sea was considered inauspicious. Other than this, she gifted Bengali women a graceful style of wearing saree, which is now most popular. She brought out a magazine called Balak. It was through Balak that Rabindranath was encouraged to write for young people. She also established a litho press to encourage the youngsters to draw and paint. Later, her daughter Indira made a name for herself by her sheer versatility. She wrote articles, thoughts on music, reminiscences and translation from the French to Bengali. She was one of the leaders of women’s liberation. In every sphere of life, she was opposed to extremism and believed in following the middle path. In those days, when women of high class were not allowed to learn music, the Tagore family took the bold step of teaching their women music, and music lessons were arranged for the third daughter-in-law of Debandranath. Protiva, the eldest child of Mahrishi’s third son Hemendranath, opened the door to music for Bengali women. She was the first one to appear on stage before the public. Mrinalini, Rabindranatha’s wife, had social concerns. When there was a financial hardship to establish a school in Shantiniketan, she handed over her jewellery and took an active part in its administration. In the Tagore family, every facility was provided to the women to practise various art forms. Pragya, Debandranath’s granddaughter and Hemendranath’s daughter, was an expert in the culinary arts. Her cookery book Aamish O Niramish Aahar was published in three volumes. The best-known women, who entered the Tagore family as brides of grandsons, are Hemlata, Pratima and Sangya. Hemlata was the second wife of Dwipendrenath, the eldest son of Dwijendernath. She was descended from the daughter of Radhaprasad Ray, son of Raja Rammohan Ray. She was the first woman acharya of the Adi Brahmo Samaj. Along with looking after the family, social service and religious discourses, she carried on with her literary pursuits. The Tagores were adept and well versed in arts. Any family celebration was accompanied by various performances. They had their own theatre, and family members took active part in it, especially women. Later, Tagore women stepped into Indian cinema as well from the time of silent movies to the present times. Premikamoyee appeared in a few Bengali films and her daughters as child artists. Sharmila Tagore made her name in Hindi cinema and presently her daughter is pursuing her carrier as well. There is a long list of
talented men and women of Tagore family. It surprises us how a family
can contain so much of talent. The writer has done exhaustive job by
giving details of each and every woman. She has also given the family
tree that runs into more than hundred pages.
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These
activities might appear ordinary today, but all this was not so simple
and normal to achieve over a century ago. It is commendable that the
women of the Tagore family were able to defy the constraints imposed
by society. Like their menfolk, the women of this family became models
for future generations. While reading this book we find that there is
a long list of their achievements, in most of the areas they were the
first Indian women to do so. 