THE BALLYGUNGE TAGORES

[Saurav Brahmogroups]

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=30&theme=&usrsess=1&id=241339

[8th day] The Statesman 17-Jan-2009

Focus: THE BALLYGUNGE TAGORES

Ayan Ghosh elaborates on a little known 185-year connection

TALK about the Tagores and immediately Jorasanko and Pathuriaghata —
the two north Kolkata localities that identify the two main branches
of the family — spring to mind. Little known is the fact that the
Tagores also have a 185-year connection with Ballygunge.

Ballygunge gets its name from the large market for sand that centred
on it. Records exist of it being inhabited from the 18th century by
Europeans: George Mandeville, once a Collector of the City, and
presumably the gentleman after whom Mandeville Gardens takes its name,
had a garden house there. Emily Eden, sister of the then
Governor-General (Lord Auckland), wrote of Ballygunge in 1840,
comparing it to one of London's greener suburbs. Sir HEA Cotton,
writing in 1907, recorded the "fine maidan" and quarters of the
Governor-General's bodyguard, surrounded by "many very fine European
residences in extensive grounds".

Available records show Babu Chandra Coomar Tagore purchasing land in
Ballygunge from various smaller holders in 1824. His brother, Babu
Haro Coomar Tagore (1798-1858), had holdings in Ballygunge from 1836.
Chandra Coomar and Haro Coomar were contemporaries of
Dwarkanathnath's, on the Pathuriaghata side of the family, and were
the sons of Gopi Mohun, one of the founders of the Hindoo (later,
Presidency) College. Haro Coomar was the father of two illustrious
sons. The elder, Maharaja Bahadur Sir Joteendro Mohun, KCSI,
(1831-1908), purchased more land in Ballygunge in the 1880s and '90s.
The Maharajah's entry in Who's Who, extolled his virtues "of great
intelligence and ability, distinguished public spirit, high character,
staunch loyalty to the British Government, extensive charities, both
public and private, and personal services rendered to the State". Haro
Coomar's younger son was Raja Sir Sourindro Mohun, Kt., CIE,
(1840-1914) who claimed to have "reduced Hindu music to a system, and
devised a notation scheme since generally adopted in India; translated
the National Anthem, and set it to 12 varieties of Indian melody. For
his efforts for the advancement of Hindu music, he received a great
number of decorations, including many foreign knighthoods, and awarded
honorary memberships of numerous learned societies", including a
Doctorate in Music from Oxford.

In 1889, Ballygunge was removed from the suburban municipality and
brought within the limits of the Kolkata Corporation as an "added
area", reflecting the ability of the residents to pay higher taxes and
their demand for higher levels of municipal service.
Ballygunge-Tollygunge, like Park Street, Waterloo Street and Victoria
Terrace, was a European Ward of the Corporation with the second lowest
population density (after Alipore). In 1921, the population density in
the Ballygunge-Tollygunge ward was 25 people to an acre!

It was love for wide, open spaces that prompted many of the Tagores to
move to Ballygunge, says a descendant of Swarnakumari Devi
(1855-1932), elder sister of Rabindranath (1861-1941). Swarnakumari
was a gifted writer, editor, song-composer and social worker. At a
time when few women saw the light of letters, she had published her
first book by the time she was 19; was editor of Bharati at the age of
23 and subsequently founded a children's magazine, Balak. Sakhi Samiti
was an organisation she created for the uplift of widows and destitute
women. Her husband, Janakinath Ghosal (1830-1913), was one of the
founders of the Indian National Congress, and both Swarnakumari, and
their daughter Sarala (1872-1945) undertook nationalistic political
activity. Sarala Devi was among the first women graduates of Calcutta
University. She succeeded her mother as editor of Bharati in 1895 and,
through the magazine, organised a physical culture campaign, asking
young men to form an antaranga dal (intimate circle) for self-defence,
and for the defence of their women against molestation by British
soldiers.

She forced her friends and acquaintances to take a pledge on the map
of India that they would henceforth be prepared to sacrifice their
lives for their country's independence and tied rakhis around their
wrists as a token of their vows. Sarala Devi was deeply involved in
the revivalist movement in Bengal. In 1902, she exhorted young men to
organize pratpaditya bratas, defensive exercises with swords and
clubs, as well as wrestling and boxing, and attracted a large
following. In 1903, she organized udayaditya bratas and birastami
bratas. These later took the form of a parade of physical prowess, on
the second day of Durga Puja. The same year she opened an academy of
martial arts in Calcutta, at which fencing and ju-jitsu was taught.
Swarnakumari's son, Sir Josnanathnath Ghosal (1871-??), had a very
different life to Sarala Devi. Married to Sukriti Devi, daughter of
Sir Nripendrya Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch Behar
(1863-1911) and Sunity Devi (daughter of Keshub Chandra Sen) – it was
to split the Bramho Samaj. Sir Josnanathnath followed in the footsteps
of his uncle (his mother's brother) and joined the Indian Civil
Service and, like his mama (Satyendranath), he spent his working life
in the Bombay Presidency, rising to be a Member of the Governor's
Executive Council there. An enduring affection existed between the
two. Satyendranath, during his ICS career, had developed a fondness
for Alphonso mangoes, which Josnanathnath, then domiciled in Bombay,
continued to send him on his birthdays without fail. Sir Josna later
solidified into one of the pillars of the Calcutta Club and many still
remember "Uncle Jo" (as he was known) and his pink gins.
Janakianathanath's family moved from Kasiabagan to Ballygunge Circular
Road and finally settled at 3, Sunny Park, which fortuitously survives
intact, and is still lived in by their descendants.

Across the road, at 6, Sunny Park, lived Prativa Devi, a cousin of Sir
Josnanathnath. Prativa Devi was the daughter of Debendranath's third
son, Hemendranath (1844-84), and was an accomplished musician and
singer who established the music school, Sangeet Sangha, in 1911. Her
husband was Sir Ashutosh Chaudhuri (1860-1924), a close friend of
Rabindranath, a leading barrister and, later Judge of Calcutta High
Court. Sir Ashutosh was the eldest of five brothers, all of whom were
barristers. The third brother, Pramatha Chaudhuri (1868-1946), was a
stated cosmopolitan, a creative author of exceptional abilities whose
magazine, Sabuj Patra, did much to de-Sankritise Bengali. The husband
of Indira Devi Chaudhurani (1873-1960), Rabindranath's favourite
niece, they lived at what was then 1, Bright Street. The fourth
Chaudhuri brother, the famous big game hunter Kumud Nath, lived in a
house to the east at 2-1, Bright Street, while Amiya Nath, the
youngest brother, lived slightly to the north of 1 Bright Street, in
Jhawtala Road, in the building that now houses the Dalhousie
Institute. Amiya Nath is chiefly remembered today for being the
leading government counsel in the Bhawal Sanyasi case. He married the
Sorbonne-educated daughter of WC Bonerjee, first Indian president of
the Indian National Congress and their son, Joyanta Nath (1908-83), as
General JN Chaudhuri, was Chief of the Indian Army Staff.

No 1 Bright Street is today "Nadia House", an address familiar to many
as a house where marriages are held. Its address was changed to 2,
Bright Street when the original address was amalgamated in the
Corporation's 1921-22 Scheme No. 8. The house, originally named Mary
Ville, was renamed Good Hope Villa by the Rev Thomas Malcolm.
Unfortunately, his good hopes must have been dashed because he had to
mortgage the place to Surendranath Tagore in 1900; and on his not
being able to have the house released, it was gifted in 1907 to Indira
Devi Chadhurani by Satyendranathnath and Surendranath.

Satyendranath Tagore was the first Indian member of the ICS and the
first Indian to be appointed Sessions Judge. He had a number of other
firsts to his credit. Satyendranath was a champion of women's
emancipation and from designing outfits for his wife to appear in
public, to completing her education in English, he enacted a real life
Pygmalion story, including her presentation at a vice-regal levée.
Prasanna Kumar Tagore, brother of Chandra Kumar and Hara Kumar Tagore
mentioned earlier, who was also at the same levée, was said to have
been so scandalised by this innovation that he stormed out. Not to be
discouraged, Satyendranath subsequently sent his wife, Gnanadanandini
Devi (1851-1941), to England with their two young children. He was
also the first to break away from the Jorasanko mansion and set up his
own home (today's nuclear family?) in the European quarters south of
Park Street. Over a period of time, Gnanadanandini became, to him, a
consort battleship who skilfully retained her independence while
maintaining a warm, cordial relationship with the Maharshi, his
numerous children and their families. Having spent 32 years in the ICS
posted in up-country locations across the Bombay Presidency,
Satyendranath resigned from the service in 1897 once it was clear that
he was not going to be elevated to the High Court bench. In
retirement, he immersed himself in the nationalistic politics of the
day and launched himself with renewed vigour as an author, song
composer and Bramho preacher. His first post-retirement home was in
Ballygunge, at 1, Rainey Park. While there, Devendranath made his
will, in which Satyendranath was not given a share of the Jorasanko
house but, instead, received a lump sum amount with which he bought
the property at 19, Ballygunge Store Road. By 1900, Satyendranathnath
was established in his new home.

The property in Ballygunge Store Road (today's Gurusaday Dutta Road)
was situated on 22 bighas of land, had three ponds and an enormous
garden and was described by the Amrita Bazar Patrika as "a lovely park
in an artistic setting". The house itself was an imposing three-storey
affair with a plinth area of 19,700 square feet. and a ballroom.
Today, the building houses the Birla Industrial and Technological
Museum and its original boundaries are occupied among others by Birla
Park, the compound which houses many of the Birla residences in
Kolkata; Modern High School and the Ice Skating Rink. The 1912 edition
of Thacker's Directory records the name of the house as "Granville".
It was sold in 1918-19 to the Birlas under compulsion to bail out
Surendranath, Satyendranathnath's only son, from the debts he had
incurred, the deal being brokered by Nalini Ranjan Sircar.

Surendranath Tagore (1872-1940) had an interesting career as a
nationalistic businessman who set out (like Jyotirindranath a
generation earlier) to break the stranglehold of British business.
Known for his cultural interests and accomplishments, he was close to
Rabindranath and assisted the latter in supervising the family
estates, in his work with the Adi Bramho Samaj and in translating the
poet's work in English. Reflecting the changing political outlook of
his generation, Surendranath was involved in the freedom struggle. He
participated in the Anti-Partition Movement of 1905 and appealed to
his countrymen to boycott foreign goods and patronise indigenous
products. A pioneer of the cooperative movement, his Hindusthan
Cooperative Insurance Society Limited developed many of the areas of
Ballygunge between 1925-40.

Hindusthan Park, which was developed between 1925 and 1930, was so
named by the Municipal Corporation in 1931; Hindusthan Road was
briefly named SR Das Road but in 1938 the Corporation restored the
original name to recognise the company's work. For the Society's
Scheme No. IV Bondel Road property, the Corporation's desire to name
it after Sir Binod Chandra Mitter came to nought when the Ballygunge
Rate-Payers' Association objected that Sir Binod was "closely
associated with Bhowanipore". The Corporation yielded and in 1935 the
area was gazetted Ballygunge Place.

In many respects, the opening up of Ballygunge as a citadel of the
Bengali middle classes was the handiwork of Surendranath, who is
commemorated by "the group of roads opened out by Talbot & Co at 14,
Gariahat Road, and since vested in the Corporation", which are known
today as Suren Tagore Road but which, in 1945, were originally
gazetted as SN Tagore Street.
On the sale of 19 Ballygunge Store Road, Satyendranath moved to a
rented house elsewhere in Ballygunge and finally retired to Ranchi
where he and Jyotirindronath had built houses in the area now known as
Tagore Hills. Surendra moved to "Bichitra", Rabindranath's studio in
Jorasanko as an interim measure, before his new house was ready at 1,
Palm Place. Unfortunately, nothing of this last house remains. The
plot has been subdivided and is occupied by blocks of flats, including
one belonging to the LIC of India.

At 1, Palm Place, Surendranath came even closer to his sister, Indira
Devi Chaudhurani's home. A notable beauty in her time, Indira Devi is
chiefly remembered for being her uncle's muse, but in her own right
was an accomplished litterateur and musician, who was Vice-Chancellor
of Visva-Bharati, and who was the first recipient of the Rabindra
Purakskar and Deshikottam. Immediately after her marriage to Pramatha
Chaudhuri in 1899, Satyendranathnath had rented a house for the couple
at Ballygunge Circular Road. Then in 1900, came the move to 1, Bright
Street. At that time, the house was a one-storeyed bungalow, set on
nine bighas, which Gnanadanandini named "Kamalalaya". Indira Devi
enjoyed the property till 1920, when it was sold to Maharaja Kshaunish
Chandra Ray of Nadia (1890-1928).

Indira Devi, however, continued to live in Ballygunge. She moved a few
plots away to 20, Mayfair Road, a house which, again, was named
"Kamalalaya". The property at 20, Mayfair Road still exists but has
been so remodelled that it is difficult to imagine what it would have
been like in Indira Devi Chaudhurani's day.

In a family as large as the Tagores, it is natural that there would be
smaller, more intimate groups. An underlying theme in the story of the
Tagores in Ballygunge is the warmth and mutual affection in their
relationships, anchored by the remarkable personalities of
Satyendranathnath and Gnadanandini, whose generosity and warmth was
testified to in many of the contemporary memoirs. While
Satyendranath's placidity, amiability and universal affection cast its
net wide, Gnanadanandini's emotions were more intense. Effortlessly
accomplished at almost whatever she turned her hand to, hers was the
star that illumined the Tagores in Ballygunge.
But does the story of the Ballygunge Tagores end there? The answer is
"no". At 14, Gurusaday Road, there still stands a beguiling gatepost
with the legend "Tagore Hall". Who lives there now? A descendant of
the Pathuriaghata Tagores, the Jorasanko Tagores or someone unrelated?
The search continues!

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