Tagore’s Concept of Childhood—As Depicted In His Writing

For Children

Deepa Agarwal

Childhood, for Tagore, was a special state of being, embodying the finest ideals in human
existence. Both his writing for children and about children reflect this belief strongly. He
found inspiration in the company of children and his deep concern that they receive
suitable nurture led to his involvement in education. To quote a few lines from his Nobel
Prize Acceptance speech: “…I could hear distinctly the voices of the children coming up
in the air, and it seemed to me that these shouts and songs and glad voices were like those
trees, which come out of the heart of the earth like fountains of life towards the bosom of
the infinite sky. And it symbolised, it brought before my mind the whole cry of human
life all expressions of joy and aspirations of men rising from the heart of Humanity up to
this sky.” Tagore goes on to state that he wrote his Gitanjali poems in this atmosphere,
confirming his almost mystical bond with childhood.
A significant part of the great Nobel Laureate’s immense body of work consists of
poems, plays, short stories and a novel for young readers, and much of his other writing
is accessible to them too. Among them are Kadi-o-Komal (Sharps and flats) his first
collection for children published in 1886, followed by Sonar Tari (Golden Boat; 1894)
Kshanika (The Flitting One; 1900). The celebrated Sisu (Child; 1903) was written for his
younger son Sami after his wife’s tragic death. Tagore translated some of these poems
into English himself and Macmillan in London published a representative collection in
1913 titled The Crescent Moon. Gitimalya or Wreath of Songs appeared in 1914.
Tagore’s poems for children reflect a variety of moods, from the pensive and
philosophical, springing from his religious beliefs and his oneness with nature, to the
playful and inspirational. There are lengthy historical narrative poems that communicate
a message as well as nonsense verse. The child’s world is idealized and depicted as one
of innocence, free of materialism and with spontaneous joy in nature. Violence and
prejudice do not exist in this world, nor does hatred. Only love and trust prevails. At the
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same time Tagore displays faith in children’s innate intelligence, their insight that is
honest and unclouded by other considerations.
Tagore’s first poem for children “Bristi pare tapur-tupur” (The rain falls pitter-patter)
recreates the rhythm and cadence of the Bengali nursery rhymes of his childhood that he
loved so much. Later poems like “On the Sea Shore” no. 60 from Gitanjali reflect his
belief in the enduring bond between children and nature, which is shown as a nurturing
and protective force that responds to their untouched innocence. To quote:
“The sea surges up with laughter and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach/Death-
dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children, even like a mother while rocking
a cradle.”
The child’s universe is a place of wonder and mystery for him as he asks in poem 61
from Gitanjali “The smile that flickers on baby’s lips when he sleeps—does anybody
know where it was born?” It is untouched by the murk of commerce and greed as in
“Playthings” where the child happily plays with “twigs and sticks and mud pies” while
the father is preoccupied with his accounts, gathering “lumps of gold and silver” but
finding no joy.
Gold for a child as in the poem “The Merchant” is not the corrupting coin of avarice but
the golden harvest of the fields or the gold of champa flowers. This poem, like several
others, displays the tenderness of the mother-child relationship, which is another
pervasive theme in Tagore’s poetry. The poet lost his own mother at an early age, and
most tragically, his wife passed away too, when she was just twenty-nine. He was
compelled to play mother to his bereaved children and wrote many of his children’s
poems at that time as he struggled with the twofold challenge of burying his grief and
diverting and instructing his children.
In these verses, the mother-child bond has a moving poignancy and almost acquires an
aura of sanctity. In the poem “Clouds and Waves” the child says “I shall be the cloud,
and you the moon/ I shall cover you with both my hands, and our housetop will be the
sky.” In poems like Fairyland, this attachment is charmingly depicted as the trust that
leads the child to share his secret inner world with his mother. A similar mood of fantasy,
though more playful, runs through “Birpurus” (The Hero) another very popular poem
where the child goes off on an imaginary journey during which he protects his mother
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from all kinds of dangers. Mother-love is perceived as an inspirational power here,

motivating the child to perform heroic deeds. Indeed, for Tagore, mother-love is the
supreme force, protecting children and lighting their path with its understanding. Indeed,
the mother and child figure is projected as a sacred symbol of faith, love and the renewal
of life in his poem “The Child” (1931). In this long poem originally written in English,
which he translated into Bengali later under the title Shishu Tirth or “Child Pilgrimage”,
love leads the pilgrims from confusion to knowledge as “They kneel down, --the king and
the beggar, the saint and the sinner,  the wise and the fool, -- and cry:  ‘Victory to Man,
the new-born, the ever-living!’”
Tagore displays infinite faith in children as dispensers of the wisdom and sense of
wonder which adults have lost in the process of growing up, when he says in poem 62
from Gitanjali: “When I bring to you coloured toys my child, I understand why there is
such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints—” At the
same time there is a playful humour in poems like “The Invention of Shoes” or “Walking
Kolkata” in which the inanimate parts of the city from its houses and shops to children’s
slates come alive and start running. Some historical poems like “The Devotee” which
dwell upon the subject of commitment to one’s beliefs are in an inspirational vein.
Tagore’s prose works also expound many of the themes that abound in his poetry but
in a more directly didactic manner. In his novel Rajarshi or The Sacrifice blood sacrifice
becomes a metaphor for needless violence and the narrowness of religious fanaticism.
One of his best-known stories Kabuliwala (1893) expresses the feelings of tenderness
children evoke in all, because of their natural, artless response to other human beings,
regardless of race or creed. Mini, the narrator’s daughter opens her father’s eyes to the
Kabuliwala’s secret sorrow, helping him to connect with his own humanity. She is
another of those archetypal children in Tagore’s work who assist their elders in
uncovering essential truths. At the end of the story, the narrator reflects, after giving the
Kabuliwala enough money to return home to his daughter, “Having made this present, I
had to curtail some of the festivities[of Mini’s marriage]. I could not have the electric
lights I had intended, nor the military band, and the ladies of the house were despondent
at it. But to me the wedding feast was all the brighter for the thought that in a distant land
a long-lost father met again with his only child.” Sometimes, however, this awakening
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can be painful as in the story The Name Game where young Kanai innocently forces the
failed poet to confront his lack of talent. In others it rescues the adult from the pit of
failure, as in The New Wave the doll maker’s granddaughter Subhadra motivates him to
take up his craft again successfully.
Tagore believed staunchly in the benefits of the simple and natural as opposed to the
materialistic life. In a letter to his son Rathindranath dated 17 May, 1903 (Bengali
Letters, File: Tagore, Rathindranath. (RBA) Translated by UDG. Satish Chandra Ray) he
writes, “You must not let your greed for material things overwhelm you. Let your life be
simple whether you are in the company of the rich or of the poorest of the poor.” Thus,
the short story Guptadhan (Hidden Treasure: 1905) strongly illustrates the perils of
material attachment. Mrityunjaya, the hero, who is hunting for the hidden treasure, has to
experience a tortuous journey to discover this. The fable “The New Queen’s Heart’s
Desire” again shows how luxury and wealth cannot bring untrammelled joy the way an
unpretentious existence that delights in nature can. Other stories like Ichhapuran (Wish
Fulfilment: 1896) a humorous fantasy, explore topics like contentment with your lot. His
play Mukut (The Crown: 1885), set in the royal court of Tripura depicts the evils of
ambition, when the rivalry between two princes ends in the tragic death of the selfless
oldest brother who comes across as the idealistic foil.
Tagore writes in his book The Religion of Man, “I had been blessed with that sense of
wonder which gives a child his right of entry into the treasure house of mystery in the
depth of existence. My studies in the school I neglected, because they rudely
dismembered me from the context of my world and I felt miserable, like a caged rabbit in
a biological institute.” (The Religion of Man, pp 91-93) This theme of the child hemmed
in by adults’ notions of what is good for him or her, recurs again and again. In the
satirical “The Tale of a Parrot” the caged bird who previously ranged free becomes a
metaphor for all that was wrong in an education system where knowledge was forced
down children’s throats without paying any heed to their actual needs. One of his most
admired plays; Dakghar (Post Office: 1911) is a poignant tale about a sick boy Amal,
who has been confined because of the doctor’s ignorance. His yearning for freedom,
however, enables him to transform the ordinary by the force of his imagination and even
pass on this sense of wonder to others. Thus, this child hero manages to escape his
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imprisonment in "the world of hoarded wealth and certified creeds" using his inner
resources. But despite his romantic image of childhood Tagore remained in touch with
the harshness of reality where innocence, or rather lack of insight can have devastating
results. Amal can draw upon his world of fantasy to prevail over circumstance, but not
Ratan in “The Postmaster”. This heart-wrenching story dwells on the distance between
the adult’s pragmatic outlook and the child’s naïve and trusting heart. The orphan girl,
who provided care and companionship to the lonely postmaster marooned in a remote
place, cannot understand why he abandons her when he leaves for the city. She had
hoped too much, and her illusions lead to heartbreak.
Other stories like Khokha Babur Pratyabartan (The Return of Khokha babu) “The
Homecoming” Atithi (Guest) Chuti (Leave) and Ramakanier Nirnbuddhita (Ramkanai’s
Foolishness) also display his concern that children should grow and develop in natural
surroundings and education should be a means of opening up their minds.
This concern found culmination in the founding of Shantiniketan, in 1901, when he set
up a school where children learnt their lessons in the open air, and expressed their
creativity through the mediums of art, dance and music. To carry his theory of education
further, Tagore even edited a series of children’s primers; Sahaj Path (Easy lessons,
Calcutta, 1930) which were illustrated by one of the foremost artists of the Bengal school,
Nandlal Bose.
Thus, Tagore’s inner child remained joyously alive in his writing for children, whether
in his poetry or his prose, giving it an authenticity, few writers can hope to achieve. As he
himself recounts in “The First Jasmines”, “My memory is still sweet with the first fresh
jasmines that I held in my hand, when I was a child.” He could slip with ease into a
child’s mind and revel in the unforced, uncalculated thoughts that his protagonists voiced,
thoughts that express wisdom beyond the ken of the most erudite scholar. As W.B. Yeats
states in his introduction to Gitanjali, “An innocence, a simplicity that one does not find
elsewhere in literature makes the birds and the leaves seem as near to him as they are to
children, and the changes of the seasons as great events as before our thoughts had arisen
between them and us.” It is this same delight in the natural world that imbues Tagore’s
writing with the radiance that will continue to bring joy to generations of readers.
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Bibliography

Ravindranath ka Bal Sahitya, Bhag 2 edited Lila Majumdar and Kshitij Roy trs. Yugajit
Nawalpuri, Sahitya Akademi; Delhi, 1971
Gitanjali, Tagore, Rabindranath, UBS Publishers’ Distributors Pvt. Ltd.; Delhi 2003
The Prince and other Modern Fables, Tagore, translated Sreejata Guha, Puffin/ Penguin
Books India; New Delhi 2003
The Crescent Moon
The Hungry Stones and other Stories
Boyhood Days, Chhelebela, Tagore, 1940 trs. Radha Chakravarty Puffin/ Penguin Books
India; New Delhi 2007
My Life in My Words, Tagore, Rabindranath, edited Uma Das Gupta, Viking/Penguin
Books India; New Delhi 2006

“Tagore’s Poems for Children, A Fountain of delight and Wisdom” Prabhat K. Singh,
Bookbird, a journal of international children’s literature, 2000 Vol 38 no. 4