Not Only Zamindaar's wife A re-look into the women of Bengal
Our first exhibition for the year 2021 (February-April 2021)
[Dated: 1st February 2021] The new decade of 2020 taught us many lessons, one significant one being how to manage and respond in the face of challenge. In the field of work, working from home has now become a more accepted and somewhat preferred norm. For women, this transition is proving to be a seamless one, as, for ages they have been ‘confined’ (sometimes by custom and at times due to the situation) to their abode. But, never in the history can their role be lessened due to their limited exposure to the outer world.
Tagore was one of the global pioneers who recognized and popularized this perspective on women. In his words, “For we women are not only the deities of the household fire, but the flame of the soul itself.”
Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7 May, 1861. A world poet, writer, composer, philosopher and painter, he reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He became the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He was a forerunner in envisioning a globalized world community. Between 1878 and 1932, Tagore traveled to more than thirty countries on five continents. Tagore was a staunch believer in a dialogical world where people from different cultures would engage in communication marked by respect, reciprocity, empathy, and generosity. He believed that the ultimate destiny for humans lay in the creation of a global community by enlightened individuals from all cultures who would help engender love, peace and harmony among individuals and nations (Roy, 2015).
Though his plans to visit Australia did not materialize, in the year 1913, when he won the Nobel Prize in literature, several Western media from around the world including several Australian newspapers featured him. Brisbane courier published a long feature with the title ‘Indian Poet Honoured/ Noble Prize for Bengal ‘Prophet’. The feature was based on the article published in Daily Chronicle, London on 14th November 1913, in which the poet was described as ‘Prophet of Indian Nationalism’. In 1934, Melbourne celebrated its centenary in which one of the events was a flight competition from London to Melbourne. Among the six women participants, the only Indian was Sushama Devi Mukherjee, whose endeavor was financially supported by Rabindranath Tagore (The Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies, n.d).
This year (2021) marks the 160th anniversary of Tagore and we are glad to announce our first exhibition for the year 2021 titled, “Not Only Zamindar's wife- A relook into the women of Bengal through the eyes of Tagore”. During the period between 1881 to 1941 Bengal, Tagore was one of the first few who portrayed the educated and urban Indian woman to be fighting for human rights and equality while openly challenging social evils. She was not only a Zamindar’s wife but much more than that. Through this project, we plan to showcase arts based on the theme by noted artist from Bengal, further promote women empowerment and a glimpse into the fascinating culture that believed in global community and mutual respect based on authentic reciprocity.
Standing so close to the Australia Day which also coincides with the Indian Republic Day (26th January), what better way to celebrate the shared values between these two great nations and the broader global community!
[Dated: 4th February 2021] Our exhibition is now OPEN! Come & visit us at your convenience.
Dedicated to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore On His 160th Birth Anniversary Year.
From: Feb-Apr 2021
What's On: Art & Cultural Exhibition | Re-look Into A Dozen Of Tagore’s Female Protagonists | Photo Exhibition Of A Few Selected Paintings By Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore
Curated & Presented By: Maya Emporium- An Exclusive Darjeeling Tea & Indian Art Gallery In Australia.
More to come...
TAGORE'S FEMALE PROTAGONISTS- VIDEO SUMMARY
Chitrangada: The Warrior Princess
Tagore's Nandini from the play Red Oleanders (Raktakarabi)
Tagore's Nandini from the play Red Oleanders (Raktakarabi)
"I am Chitrangada, the king's daughter Neither a goddess nor an ordinary woman,
I am not the one to be placed above and worshiped
Nor am I the one to be neglected and cast aside.
If you keep me by your side as a companion in danger and prosperity, only then will you know my worth"- (Quote from the play written by Rabindranath Tagore)
Tagore's Nandini from the play Red Oleanders (Raktakarabi)
Tagore's Nandini from the play Red Oleanders (Raktakarabi)
Tagore's Nandini from the play Red Oleanders (Raktakarabi)
Written in the early 1920s by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, the play is one of his most complex and symbolic plays. The first English version Red Oleanders was done by Tagore himself and published by Macmillan, London, in 1925.
As Tagore himself says, “Nandini is a real woman who knows that wealth and power are ‘maya’ (illusion) and that th
Written in the early 1920s by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, the play is one of his most complex and symbolic plays. The first English version Red Oleanders was done by Tagore himself and published by Macmillan, London, in 1925.
As Tagore himself says, “Nandini is a real woman who knows that wealth and power are ‘maya’ (illusion) and that the highest expression of life is in love, which she manifests in this play in her love for Ranjan. Woman will one day prove that the meek in soul, through the sure power of love, will rescue this world from the domination of the unholy spirit of rapacity.”
Giribala From Tagore's Manbhanjan (Fury Appeased)
Tagore's Nandini from the play Red Oleanders (Raktakarabi)
Giribala From Tagore's Manbhanjan (Fury Appeased)
We bring to you the story of Giribala...
The protagonist from one of Tagore's best short stories "Manbhanjan" or Fury Appeased.
Written in 1895, the plot is set in Calcutta during the British Raj.
A woman's inner splendour and soul strength is what Rabindranath Tagore brought forward through his works that significantly contributed to the
We bring to you the story of Giribala...
The protagonist from one of Tagore's best short stories "Manbhanjan" or Fury Appeased.
Written in 1895, the plot is set in Calcutta during the British Raj.
A woman's inner splendour and soul strength is what Rabindranath Tagore brought forward through his works that significantly contributed to the aesthetic growth of the women of his country and beyond...And she sings,
"Who'll break me free and take me out,
O, My friend!
Lonely I am, time seems to freeze for me,
You being out of sight".
Tagore's Chandalika (Untouchable Girl)
Tagore's Damini : The Unshaken woman based on a novella by Tagore titled Chaturanga (Quartet).
Giribala From Tagore's Manbhanjan (Fury Appeased)
Based on a Buddhist fable, Tagore's dance drama 'Chandalika' centres around the story of a lower caste, untouchable girl, named Prakriti. Her disapproval and her way of protest against the then prevailing social discrimination. It was published, dramatised and staged in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in the year 1938.
As a scholar notes,"Prakriti
Based on a Buddhist fable, Tagore's dance drama 'Chandalika' centres around the story of a lower caste, untouchable girl, named Prakriti. Her disapproval and her way of protest against the then prevailing social discrimination. It was published, dramatised and staged in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in the year 1938.
As a scholar notes,"Prakriti is a real woman not an idealised one who is at once strong and tormented, confident yet deeply conflicted. she is a divided self, torn between her intense yearning for Ananda and her intense guilt at making him suffer at the mercy of her mother's mantra. She only arrives at a true understanding of her own self and the world by journeying
through experience, through making errors in judgement, asserting herself and making active choices. It is the autonomous self development of the woman that Tagore hints at in narrating the story of an untouchable girl".
Tagore's Damini : The Unshaken woman based on a novella by Tagore titled Chaturanga (Quartet).
Tagore's Damini : The Unshaken woman based on a novella by Tagore titled Chaturanga (Quartet).
Tagore's Damini : The Unshaken woman based on a novella by Tagore titled Chaturanga (Quartet).
The story is a complex interplay between the four characters. Hence, the name Chaturanga which literally means quartet. Chaturanga, was initially serialized, between November 1914 and February 1915-16, in four consecutive issues of Sabuj Patra, a monthly literary magazine, then published from Calcutta.
Through one of his key characters, T
The story is a complex interplay between the four characters. Hence, the name Chaturanga which literally means quartet. Chaturanga, was initially serialized, between November 1914 and February 1915-16, in four consecutive issues of Sabuj Patra, a monthly literary magazine, then published from Calcutta.
Through one of his key characters, Tagore narrates the traits of womanhood, as portrayed by his female protagonists Nanibala and Damini, “In Nanibala, I have seen the Universal Woman in one of her aspects, the woman who takes on herself the whole burden of sin, who gives up life itself for the sinner's sake, who in dying leaves for the world, the balm of immortality.
In Damini, I see another aspect of Universal Woman. This one has nothing to do with death. She is the Artist of the Art of Life. She blossoms out, in limitless profusion, in form and scent and movement. She is not for rejection; refuses to entertain the ascetic; and is vowed to resist the least farthing of payment to the tax-gathering Winter Wind.”
Mrinal:Tagore's female protagonist from the short story Streer Patra/The Wife’s Letter
Tagore's Damini : The Unshaken woman based on a novella by Tagore titled Chaturanga (Quartet).
Tagore's Damini : The Unshaken woman based on a novella by Tagore titled Chaturanga (Quartet).
It is one of Tagore's extraordinary piece of work. It is written in the form of a letter written by a typical Bengali upper middle-class wife, 'Mrinal', to her husband of 15 years, which constitutes the whole story.
According to the author himself, the short story is his first attempt towards writing a feminist text.
It was published in t
It is one of Tagore's extraordinary piece of work. It is written in the form of a letter written by a typical Bengali upper middle-class wife, 'Mrinal', to her husband of 15 years, which constitutes the whole story.
According to the author himself, the short story is his first attempt towards writing a feminist text.
It was published in the year 1914, in Sabuj Patra -a monthly literary magazine, then published from Calcutta.
This revolutionary work revolves around the female protagonist Mrinal- a beautiful, extrovert, intelligent wife in an upper middle-class, patriarchal zamindaar Bengali household of the British Raj period.
The idea of a woman's right to choose her own path is elaborately illustrated in this story. In this story, Tagore also questioned the system of arranged, often loveless marriage and the entrapment and enslavement of women as wives.
The letter is a masterpiece and is probably Tagore’s anguish which comes out in narrating a“progressive” end to Streer Patra/The Wife’s Letter.
Starting with a common humble addressing note “Sricharan kamaleshu” which means at your lotus-like feet. Mrinal, ends up addressing herself as “Charana tal ashray chhinna”, meaning separated from your lotus-like feet– a sarcastically used word, which actually signifies a rejection for all those so called relationships she left behind.
Following her negative experiences, in the letter, she informs her husband of 15 years, that she shall not return to her inlaws' address, ever again. Something that is completely unheard of in those days.
Unlike other female characters of the story, she declares
"Amio bachbo. Ei bachlum", meaning,
"AND I SHALL LIVE. HERE, I LIVE"!
Lavanya: Tagore's female protagonist from his intensely romantic novel "Shesher Kobita" or "The Last Poem"
Lavanya: Tagore's female protagonist from his intensely romantic novel "Shesher Kobita" or "The Last Poem"
Lavanya: Tagore's female protagonist from his intensely romantic novel "Shesher Kobita" or "The Last Poem"
It revolves around 'Lavanya'- the female protagonist and an Oxford educated barrister, ultra-modern, ultra-rich Bengali intellectual- Amita Ray. Until this day, Shesher Kobita (The Last Poem) remains one of Tagore’s most celebrated piece of work on love, relationships and a woman’s right to choose with dignity.
Mini- Tagore's female protagonist from his very popular short story "Kabuliwalah"
Lavanya: Tagore's female protagonist from his intensely romantic novel "Shesher Kobita" or "The Last Poem"
Lavanya: Tagore's female protagonist from his intensely romantic novel "Shesher Kobita" or "The Last Poem"
The story highlights the filial affection and human connection which is not restricted by geographical borders or origin.
It is said that there resides that little girl Mini, somewhere deep within each woman….