Rabindranath er Choto Galpo by Pramathanath Bishi [Hardcover]

After Rabindranath's songs and poems, his short stories hold a special place as a significant expression of his genius. He wrote numerous plays of varied nature. Ultimately, some aspects of these plays, such as his poetic dramas, might claim an equal seat of immortality alongside his songs and poems. However, it is uncertain whether his short stories would achieve a similar stature. This is because, historically, verse tends to have greater longevity than prose. Yet, even without delving into this final judgment, it can be readily stated that his short stories showcase certain unique traits of Rabindranath's genius that are not as evident in his plays.

Many of his early plays, such as Raja o Rani (The King and Queen) and Bisorjon (Sacrifice), while invaluable as works of art, do not exhibit his distinctive genius. In these works, he followed the prevailing structure of five-act tragedies of the time. However, in the realm of short stories, such deviations from his natural creative inclination are almost absent, except in three early stories where faint influences of Bankim Chandra’s style can be discerned. But apart from these three, whenever Rabindranath ventured into short stories, he fully embraced his own territory and refrained from borrowing elements from others.

Not only that, from then until the end of his life, he continued to develop the genre of short stories, maintaining parallelism with the streams of his songs and poetry. This parallelism is evident in the changes and reflections of light and shadow throughout his long life, all of which are captured in his short stories. Thus, applying the same standards to judge his poems and short stories would not be unfair; rather, it might yield fruitful insights. Whether fruitful or not, the intention today is to evaluate them in such a manner. However, before proceeding with this endeavor, it is essential to delineate the scope of this evaluation and establish a clear understanding of it.

The subject of this discussion is Rabindranath's short stories. By short stories, we now refer to the three volumes of Galpoguchchho (Collected Stories), Golposholpo, and Tinsongi. The period of their creation spans from 1884 to 1941, covering fifty-seven years of his poetic life.