Womenfolk of Tagore’s home in a novel
A new novel recreating the world of womenfolk, who once lived in the traditional family home “Jorasanko” of the Tagore family has been launched here.
The book titled Jorasanko by Aruna Chakravarti was jointly launched on Friday, by the the Tagore Society Singapore and Institute of South Asian Studies.
The novel relives the world inside Tagore’s famed family mansion in Calcutta (now Kolkata), once glittering and fascinating but also dark and challenging for the women who lived there, organisers said.
India’s high commissioner to Singapore Vijay Thakur Singh, commented on Gurudev’s inspirational writings and his contribution to global literature as well as the composition of India’s national anthem on the occasion.
Jorasanko mirrors the hope and fears and triumphs and defeats of the women of the Tagore’s household, experience of their intricate and personal relationships, as well as adjustment they were continually called upon to make as daughters and daughters-in-law.
Among others, the novel recaps the role of Digambari, Dwarkanath’s strong-willed wife who refused to accept his dalliance with alcohol and western lifestyle.
It also celebrates the life of Jnanadanandini who gave the women of Bengal a new way of wearing the sari and initiated the concept of “the nuclear family”, and Swamakumari, universally hailed as the pioneer of women’s writing in India, they said.
An hour-long multi-media performance on “Jnanada and Kadambari”, culled from the novel, presented the relationship between Jnanadanandini Debi and Kadambari Debi, two of the most famous women of the family.
It also recreated Rabindranath’s muse — the gentle and melancholic Kadambari.
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