The Home and The World: Rabindranath Tagore

The Home and The World: Rabindranath Tagore

It is rarely that one gets an opportunity to read good books; and it is even scarcer that we can connect, almost immersing ourselves with the ideas portrayed in them. I was skeptical in reading Tagore at first. Given his literary genius, one expects something entirely perplexing and requiring significant clarity of thought to even comprehend what he wishes to convey, but that wasn’t quite the case. The Home and The World was among the few books I would readily call absorbing.

The Home and The World is appealing right from the very beginning – the title itself. It is always difficult to decide on a correct title for a novel, or even a short essay. It has to give enough, but leave out enough as well. The title of this novel is in fact, more than just an aptly kept summary.  One can assume the title a comparison, a stark contrast between the society of one’s own, and the one outside, a theme that carries throughout the book, through the characterization of two of the male protagonists, symbolic in several interesting ways.

The narration begins with Bimala, in the first person manner, and then vacillates between the three characters as the story progresses. First person narrative has a special attribute, which magnifies the impact of a character on the reader, that is, people generally familiarize with the character in first person, and can relate better to it. This particular feature in writing has been capitalized on greatly by Tagore; the intricacy in the detail of each character’s development eventually leads the reader to be engrossed in the story, with different narratives highlighting the differences in the basic thought process of the three main characters of the story, which is refreshing as well as insightful.

The plot is simple, so to speak. The two characters, Nikhil and Sandip, share a common love interest, Bimala. Married to Nikhil, Bimala is rudimentarily a simple, familial person, whose entire life revolves around Home, her husband Nikhil, and her household responsibilities.

Nikhil is in essence a simple, humble person. Pragmatic and hardworking, he is successful in his business, being the owner of several estates. His societal ideology is unpretentious; he holds no biases against anyone and he respects and honors people from all societal strata.

Sandip, on the other hand, is probably the best-developed character in the novel. Radical in principle, he could be taken to be the actual opposite of what Nikhil’s personality is like. He believes that the means to achieve something may be immoral and deceitful as long as they justify the outcome. Trickery and theft can be used without hesitating even once to get what one wants, because the world isn’t fair.

The story develops steadily though subtle dialogue between the characters, and Tagore has punctuated the narrative with intense philosophical subcurrents, which are immensely thought provoking. You will, throughout the plot, pause and reflect at Tagore’s writing.

The philosophical debates between Sandip and Nikhil on the variety of issues ranging from the Truth to Nationalism, from Want to Passions are greatly interesting and my personal favorites in the book. Bimala’s stance and the vividly philosophical take on her confusion between the two are also admirable. She in some arguments sides with Sandip, because of his radical, more progressive attitude towards every issue, and accuses Nikhil of impotency, and the national affairs and the state of the nation seem more important to her than her marriage, and her domestic life. Her mind changes when she sees Nikhil as her lover, as her caring husband, and she then shuns Sandip for his brusque nature.

The novel is an interesting love triangle; probably the most diversely described one I have ever come across. Interspersed with allegorical references, intelligent metaphors, beautiful imagery, the narrative would appeal to anyone with a heart for logic. The arguments in the narrative are beautifully written, and deeply philosophical, yet spell-binding.

The character development is something that would validate the diversity in Tagore’s writing skills. The three primary characters are so different in principally different things, and each of them is handled extravagantly. Apart from this intricate love relationship between the three, the novel also brings out the national situation at the time, through Nikhil’s character. Tagore brings out the inconsistencies of the Nationalist movement, with several incidents in the story, which highlight the injustice to the common man. Communal violence, oppression by the rich, refusal of foreign goods, and the intermingling of religion and politics are some among the other issues Tagore has conveyed intelligently through this character.

As I mentioned before, the title of the book forms the essence, and is visible throughout. The contrast between the ideologies of Nikhil and Sandip forms the spine of the book – and how Bimala is caught queerly in their midst. She does, however, return to ‘Home’ in the end, after she realizes how Nikhil is the one who truly loves her, and just wants to see her happy, even if he would have to let her go if that is what it would take.

Despite the story being starkly simple and the absence of heightened drama, the book is undoubtedly, an interesting read. The language, the characterization and the narrative are things one would enjoy at any rate. The book might not be a thriller, but it is definitely something that would get you thinking.

-Mehul Katiyar