Summers in the Uttarakhand hills, especially Kumaon summers, bring to mind the soulful connection which a great poet and philosopher had with these mountains –a connection that brought him here on many an occasion in his life.I am talking here about Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.He was born in May, 1861.
The summer of the year 1903, 116 years ago, saw him as a grief-stricken 42 years old father, with two of his children, trying to find solace in the serene Himalayas in Kumaon. He was both father and mother to his children in his lonely retreat in the pines.
His wife Mrinalini had passed away in 1902 and his twelve year daughter Renuka had contracted tuberculosis. In early May in 1903, he had left for the Kumoan hills with Renuka and his younger son, Samindranath. He stayed in Ramgarh near Nainital till August and wrote the series of poems “Shishu” (The Child) that became known as “The Crescent Moon” in order to entertain the motherless children. He took the two children back to Kolkata and in mid-September 1903, Renuka died. Later, even Sami died (1907).
But Tagore could never forget the peaceful ambience of the Kumaon Himalayas and kept returning to their echoing silence to experience tranquility which inspired him greatly. He wrote some verses of Gitanjali while he was in Kumaon in 1903. And it was here that the idea of Visva Bharati first came to his mind. It is believed that he had even thought of setting up an ashram in the Himalayas.
Gurudev, whose birth anniversary falls on May 7, came to the hills of Kumaon again in early May in the year 1914 and remained there till June. He was at Ramgarh, in a cottage amid apple orchards and pines from where one gets a breathtaking panoramic view of the Himalayas from Chaukhamba to the Nepal Himalayan ranges. The place left him spell bound and became a great favourite with him. Ramgarh is 25 kilometres from Nainital and is in the heart of the fruit bowl of Kumaon. The famous Hindi poetess Mahadevi Verma built a house at Ramgarh as she found it an ideal place for her muse to visit her.
The house where Gurudev lived at Ramgarh was on a high ridge and is now known as “Tagore Top”. It is situated at a height of 8,500 feet above sea level.
The three kilometre long bridle-path that leads upto Tagore Top has been rebuilt. The house deserves to be made a national memorial. At the moment, it looks nothing close to a heritage building.
Tagore also visited Almora, the ridge-top town 70 kilometres from Nainital. Noted Hindi writer Gaura Pant “Shivani” and her elder sister Jayanti were students at Shantiniketan and Gurudev visited their home in Almora often.
Shivani was at Shantiniketan for nine years and was influenced greatly by Gurudev’s philosophy. She was strongly influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengali culture and this is evident in her works like Krishnakali. When Tagore came to Almora, he would always visit Shivani’s family. In the year 1937, four years before he died, Tagore spent a very creative summer at Almora where he stayed at a bungalow which is now known as “Tagore House”, located in the cantonment area of Almora. It houses the cantonment board office.
In May and June 1937, Tagore stayed here and wrote his poems “Sejunti”, “Akaash Pradeep” and “Nobojaatok” besides his book on science “Bishwa Porichoy”.He also made some sketches with local colours. A bronze statue of the great poet and philosopher can be seen at the Tagore House.
The day Gurudev came to Almora in 1937, the famous poet of Kumaon — Gaur Da — recited a poem at a huge public reception organised at the Ramsay Inter College. In the poem, Gaur Da said that two suns had arisen in the skies that day-one was the natural sun and the other Tagore.
The influence of Tagore on the culture and literature of Kumaon can also be seen as a result of his several visits to the hill region and also due to the fact that many some of the writers of those days visited or studied at Shantiniketan.
Many of the Kumaoni stories and also the works of Mrinal Pandey and Ira Pandey, daughters of Shivani, have a flavour which is reminiscent of Bengali culture and literature. Eighty one years have gone by. But the memories of Tagore’s last stay in Almora, in May and June, remain etched clearly on the hills of Kumaon.