Ravindranath as a child

Family history and childhood


Ravindranath Tagore was born on 7 th May 1861 in Kolkata. Tagore the wealthiest and culturally renowned family of Jurasanko Tagores. He was the youngest of the fourteen children of Maharshi Devendranath Maharshi Devendranath Tagore (Makers of Indian literature)and Sharada Devi. His grandfather Prince Dwarkanath was a not only a successful businessman but also a philanthropist. He and his son Devendranath had influenced the Bengal Renaissance of the ninteenth century. They played an active role in the movements for reforms in religion and society at that period in Bengal.The leading reformer and monotheist of the day, Raja Rammohan Roy was Dwarkanth’s close friend . Rammohan’s ideas had a great influence on Dwarkanath, Debendranath and Ravindranath and family business.

Ravi as he grew was under the strong influence of his father known for honesty, spirituality and liberal ideas of reforms in religion education and society. He often took time away form the hustle of life to spend time in the Himalayas for meditation, in pursuit of spirituality. Their family was the center of literary, cultural and musical and theatrical activities. Ravindranath’s personality was no doubt nurtured in this fertile atmosphere. Other children of the family too had succeeded in various fields. Ravindranath’s oldest brother Dwijendranath Tagore was a philosopher and a poet. Another brother Satyendranath Tagore was the first Indian member of the ICS. Yet Another brother, Jyotindranath Tagore was a composer and a playwright. Among his sisters, Swarna Kumari Devi earned fame as a novelist.

All the children of the family were looked after by an army of servants. As described by Ravindranath in his autobiography: My Rminiscences(a translation of Jivansmriti), the children were under the rule of survocracy. Servants who had full liberty in managing the children often turned tyrants and restricted the children either by rule or roost. The palatial Tagore house in Jorasanko had water tanks, gardens, and all kinds of enchanting spots that attracted the young boy. But children were not allowed to venture out on their own. Servants devised few techniques to keep the children under their control to ensure that with little efforts they are looked after. One of Ravi’s servants called “ “ , Tagore narrates in Jeevansmriti, found a novel way to keep Ravi from going out of the confinements of servant’s quarters. He drew a circle around young Ravi with a chalk and warned him of the consequences of transgressing the circle. The small child had to sit by the window that overlooked a water tank and wonder what the outside world looked like. His attraction for the unseen outer world found place through his imagination in many of his writings later in life.