RABINDRANATH TAGORE WAS ABOUT TO go for an evening stroll when the news of his Nobel Prize came to Santiniketan on 15 November 1913. Three days later, he wrote this to William Rothenstein in England:
“The very first moment I received the message of the great honour conferred on me by the award of the Nobel Prize my heart turned towards you with love and gratitude. I felt certain that of all my friends none would be more glad at this news than you. Honour’s crown of honour is to know that it will rejoice the hearts of those whom we hold the most dear.”[1]
The unmistakable warmth of a mutual friendship is still evident in these words. Contrary to the notion among many that Irish poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) played the crucial role behind Tagore’s Nobel Prize, it was William Rothenstein (1872-1945) who had inspired the process. When Tagore visited London in 1912, Rothenstein introduced him to many distinguished artists and litterateurs and eventually arranged for the printing of the former’s Gitanjali from India House.[2] To know what led him to do all these, we must go back to when Rothenstein met Tagore in his ancestral house in Calcutta. The former’s memoir has a record of the meeting:
“I was attracted, each time I went to Jorasanko, by their uncle, a strikingly handsome figure, dressed in a white dhoti and chaddur, who sat silently listening as we talked. I felt an immediate attraction, and asked whether I might draw him, for I discerned an inner charm as well as great physical beauty, which I tried to set down with my pencil. That this uncle was one of the remarkable men of his time no one gave me a hint” (ibid. 249).
This was in 1910 when Rothenstein came to India with Christiana Herringham, known for her assignments of copying Ajanta frescoes. During this time, Rothenstein’s acquaintance with Abanidranath and Gaganedranth Tagores took him to Jorasanko, where he met Rabindranath. Almost before leaving for England, Rothenstein had an invitation from Rabindranath to visit Bolpur, which he could not accept as his ‘passage was booked…’ (ibid. 254). Incidentally, according to his memoir, Rothenstein had no idea at this time about the creative genius of Rabindranath Tagore.
Later, in England, Rothenstein became instantly drawn to one story of Tagore, he writes:
“I happened, in The Modern Review, upon a translation of a story signed Rabindranath Tagore, which charmed me; I wrote to Jorasanko—were other such stories to be had? Some time afterwards came an exercise book containing translations of poems by Rabindranath, made by Ajit Chakravarty, a schoolmaster on the staff at Bolpur. The poems, of a highly mystical character, struck me as being still more remarkable than the story, though but rough translations” (ibid. 262).
Rothestein’s sudden interest in his writing took little time to reach Tagore, whose close acquaintances also urged him to visit the West right then. According to Rothenstein: ‘… News came that Rabindranath was on his way. I eagerly awaited his visit. At last he arrived, accompanied by two friends, and by his son. As he entered the room he handed me a note-book in which, since I wished to know more of his poetry, he had made some translations during his passage from India. He begged that I would accept them’ (ibid. 262). Rothenstein’s memoir tells the rest of the story:
“That evening I read the poems. Here was poetry of a new order which seemed to me on a level with that of the great mystics. … I sent word to Yeats, who failed to reply; but when I wrote again he asked me to send him the poems, and when he had read them his enthusiasm equalled mine. He came to London and went carefully through the poems, making here and there a suggestion, but leaving the original little changed. For a long time Yeats was occupied with Tagore: ‘I have been writing lyric poetry in Normandy. I wish I could have got down to you for I find Tagore and you are a great inspiration in my own art. Thank you for asking me,’ he said in a letter” (ibid. 262-63).
Based on suggestion made by Rothenstein, the India Society published a collection of translated poems by Tagore for its members. Yeats generously offered to write an introduction to it. In clarifying Yeats’ role in the translations of Tagore, Rothenstein wrote:
“He [Yeats] had previously gone carefully through the translations, respecting Tagore’s expressive English too much to do more than make slight changes here and there. Indeed, Yeats was as keen over the issue of the book of poems as he would have been over a selection of his own lovely verses” (ibid. 266).
(Figure 1: In inset, William Rothenstein and the title page of the Gitanjali published by the Macmillan and Co., London, at his insistence in 1913)
According to his memoir, Rothenstein took another well-thought decision before the Nobel Prize was awarded to Rabindranath; he writes: ‘Since only a limited edition of Gitanjali had been printed I wrote to George Macmillan, with a view to his publishing a popular edition of Gitanjali, as well as other translations which Tagore had made; MacMillan, after some hesitation, finally published all Tagore’s books, to his profit, and their own’ (ibid. 268). Finally, during the summer of 1913 came the news of awarding the Nobel Prize to Rabindranath Tagore for his Gitanjali.
Today, as it seems, people in general are unaware of the catalytic role of Sister Nivedita, which led to such a great honour to both the poet and his country. Referring to William Rothenstein, one of the poet’s Bengali biographers writes: ‘He was first charmed with the genius of Rabindranath after reading Sister Nivedita’s translation of Cabuliwallah story in the Modern Review magazine (January 1912). To know whether more of such stories of Rabindranath are available or not, he wrote to Jorasanko in Calcutta; he knew Abanindranath. In reply, Rabindranath sent him translations of some poems. These poems were translated by Ajitkumar Chakraborty, a professor at Santiniketan and a connoisseur-critic of Rabindra-literature.’[3]
Later, Prasanta Kumar Pal, another Bengali biographer of the poet, stated that besides the ‘Cabuliwallah,’ Nivedita had translated two more of Tagore’s stories, which remained untraceable afterwards. According to Sri Pal, it is a ‘historical fact’ that Nivedita deserves the honour as the first translator of Tagore’s short stories.[4] Elsewhere in the same biography[5], we read that the missing translations were the stories titled ‘Chhuti’ [The Leave of Absence], and ‘Daan Pratidaan’ [Giving and Giving in Return].
In Nivedita’s letters, we know about when she translated the stories. For example, she writes to Mrs Ole Bull on 22 November 1900: ‘… I have finished the Cabuliwallah and must have the introduction ready tonight.’[6] Barely a week later, on 29 November 1900, she again informs Mrs Bull, ‘The Cabuliwallah and Leave of Absence are both Englished now, and I have “Giving and Giving in Return” ready for the last finish. So we are doing something’ (ibid. 351). Thus, the ‘Cabuliwala’ took almost twelve years to appear in the Modern Review. Nivedita left no clue about what inspired her to translate Tagore’s stories and even finished them within a week despite her other preoccupations. But a hint is here in the biography of Dr JC Bose, which reads: ‘[Rabindranath] Tagore, though occupying the foremost literary position in India, was not at that time known in Europe, and [Dr JC] Bose felt keenly that the West had not the opportunity of realising his friend’s greatness. So during his second visit to England, in 1900, he had one of his stories, ‘The Kabuliwalla,’ translated into English. … Bose submitted it to Harper’s Magazine. It was declined, because the West was not sufficiently interested in Oriental life! The time had not yet come …’[7]
Incidentally, Rabindranath Tagore has left ample proof of a mutually admiring acquaintance with Sister Nivedita. Therefore, her efforts in presenting him to the bigger world could hardly be the inspiration of Dr JC Bose alone. Besides, those who know what Nivedita did to support Dr Bose in his quest for experimental Science will understand the depth and sincerity of Nivedita’s urge to present Tagore to the world stage.
(Figure 2: Rabindranath Tagore)
Epilogue
According to one Bengali biography[8] of Tagore, following rejection by the Harper Magazine the translation of Cabuliwala got lost due to neglect. After the Sister’s death, it was found in her papers. This led Rabindranath to write Ramananda Chatterjee[9], the editor of the Modern Review, on 4 Nov [1911]: ‘The manuscript of the English translation that Nivedita did to my ‘Cabuliwala’ is now located.’ When Ramananda collected the translation from Jagadischandra and sent that to him, Tagore acknowledged its receipt in his letter to Ramananda on 9 November [1911].
☼
(Note: Revised and abridged from An Unsung Act of Sister Nivedita, published in the Prabuddha Bharata of July 2024)
[1] Men And Memories: Recollections of William Rothenstein – 1900-1922 (London, Faber & Faber, 1934), 282.
[2] About the India House and Rothenstein’s foremost role in its inception, see EB Havell and His Crusade for Indian Art: A Closer Look in the Indica Today.
[3] Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Rabindrajiban Katha (Santiniketan, Viswabharati, Beng. year 1343), vol.2, 1-2 Translated from Bengali)
[4] Prashanta Kumar Pal, Rabijibani, volume 4 (Kolkata, Ananda Publishers, Bengali1395 [1988]), 298.
[5] Ibid., volume 6 (Bengali1399 [1993]), 197.
[6] Letters of Sister Nivedita, ed., Sankari Prasad Basu, 2 volumes (Kolkata, Advaita Ashrama, 2017), 1.350.
[7] Patrick Geddes, The Life And Work of Sir Jagadis C. Bose (New York, Longmans, Green, And Co, 1920), 223. However, in his letter to Rabindranath Tagore on 22 May 1901, Jagadis Chandra Bose wrote that the magazine had declined as they accept only originals, and not the translations (see Rabijibani, Prashanta Kumar Pal, 6. 298)
[8] Rabijibani, volume 6.245-46.
[9] In a recent publication with selected writings from the Modern Review, Ramachandra Guha wrote this in his introductory words: ‘Founded in 1907 by Ramananda Chatterjee, The Modern Review quickly emerged as a vital forum for the nationalist intelligentsia. It carried essays on politics, economics and society, but also … poems, stories, travelogues and sketches. … As a platform for debate and discussion among India’s finest minds and its most public figures, The Modern Review played a major part in the process of national awakening. (See Patriots, Poets and Prisoners, eds. Anikendra Sen and Others [Gurugram, HarperCollins Publishers, 2016, pp. xi and xiv])
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article belong to the author. Indic Today is neither responsible nor liable for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information in the article.
