Jorasanko
Author: Aruna Chakravarti
Publisher: HarperCollins, Rs 350
The book fictionalises the personal lives of the Tagores with an unaccustomed aplomb. The narrative of Jorasanko is both effortless and elegant and the author emerges triumphant in the art of fiction writing, writes SONAl PRAKASH
Aruna Chakravarti’s novel, Jorasanko, sketches the lives of the women of the illustrious Tagore family — their joys, sorrows, trials and tribulations — in the face of the age-old Indian traditions and customs. The readers would applaud the extensive research gone into writing this book. Yet, this does not make the novel pedantic. If anything, it becomes all the more interesting because of the subtle blend of fact with fiction.
Jorasanko is set against the background of the Bengal renaissance when the region was pulsating with ideas unheard of hitherto — be they on religion, society and politics. The co-founder of the Brahmo Samaj, Debendranath Tagore — later given the title of ‘Maharshi’ — became a supporter of education of women. However, as Chakravarti points out, for all his notions of the women uplift, he did not oppose the tradition of abarodh — the women’s quarters — from where the ladies of the family could never step out, and if at all the need arose for them to do so, they were carried in palanquins with its curtains closely drawn up.
The Tagore women mostly remained within the confines of abarodh, but this does not mean that their submission to the wishes and commands of their husbands, and other males of the family, was absolute. Even as they did not go out of the way to attack the patriarchal setup, they certainly weren’t weaklings, and some of them resisted the authority of men in their own way. There are many instances in the novel when they resisted their husbands if things were not to their liking. For instance, the wife of the family patriarch Dwarakanath Tagore, who built up the Tagore mansion Jorasanko, even as she did not stop looking after the needs of her husband, refused to touch him. She spent all her time in prayer and led a life of immense austerity. The matter of contention between the husband and wife was the former’s adoption of the English ways which made him indulge in extravagant wining and dining. Similarly, her daughters-in-law Jogmaya and Tripura Sundari did not yield to the wishes of their brother-in-law, Debendranath Tagore, and remained idol worshippers.
But as the novel reveals, it would be wrong to portray men as absolute victimisers who insisted on total submission. This is highlighted by one of the most interesting characters in the novel, Jnanadanandini — Satyendranath Tagore’s wife. Jnanadanandini, who entered the Tagore household at the age of seven, was encouraged by her civil servant husband to adopt the ways of the women in the West. Her personality was groomed before the watchful eyes of her husband until she became absolutely fit to socialise with the British. Jnanadanandini was headstrong and had a mind of her own which made her resolve to step out of abarodh, something unheard of in those times. She also tried to influence other women of the family but met with little success. But she found a friend in Swarnakumari, Rabindranath Tagore’s elder sister, who, too, wrote prolifically. However, the biggest surprise was in store for even Jnanadanandini when her sister-in-law, the self-effacing Kadambari, went a step ahead and decided to take up riding while others looked askance.
The novel captures very well how, with changing times the attitudes of the residents of Joransanko, particularly those who were aging, also changed, whether they liked it or not. These changes dawn on the readers subtly with each successive chapter. The novel spans the not-so-short period between 1859 and 1902; the narrative shows how the mindset of each character in the novel shows a gradual evolution. Perhaps the most evocative of these changes was the one experienced by the readers in Debendranath Tagore’s unyielding wife Sharada Sundari who apologised to her daughter-in-law for weighing her down with an insane husband. Another similar instance was the conversation between dyed-in-the-wool Debendranath Tagore and his granddaughter Sarala as he wished her luck on her decision to go down south as a teacher in a girls’ school; he who had scoffed at the idea of remarrying the widow of his grandson, Balendra.
After reading Jorasanko the readers are forced to conclude that the Tagores had two sets of rules, one for the inmates of the family mansion, and the others for the world outside. The most palpable were the ones followed by the open-minded Rabindranath Tagore. To the posterity Tagore appears a liberal but some of his decisions concerning his daughters would disturb even his most ardent admirers. One is exasperated by the obsequiousness exhibited by the poet of his stature, which made him submit to the unreasonable demands of his avaricious sons-in-law. The readers are at a loss to understand why unlike his brother Satyendranath, he married off his daughters at such an early age. Also, particularly disturbing is his negligence towards his wife whose unforeseen illness did not move him enough to leave Calcutta and go to her in her dying moments.
Before summing up, a mention must be made about some of the most ebullient parts of the novel. It is hugely entertaining to read how the elderly husbands like Satyendranath and his brother Rabindranath dealt with their little brides. The incident of finding a mouse hole for seven-year-old Jnanadanandini’s tooth, which led to an altercation with her mother-in-law, much to the delight of Satyendranath, was funny. A similar exchange between Rabindranath who patiently tried to reason out with his young wife Mrinalini as to why she had thrown away his papers brings a smile on the reader’s face.
All those who read Jorasanko will agree that this book is worthy of the much overworked term — gripping. Chakravarti fictionalises the personal lives of the Tagores with an unaccustomed aplomb. The narrative of Jorasanko is both effortless and elegant and the author emerges triumphant in the art of fiction writing.