Rabijibani 9 by Prashanta Kumar Pal [Hardcover]

The ninth volume of Rabijiboni has now been published, covering the years 1330-1332 Bengali Era (1923-26)—a phase in Rabindranath Tagore’s life marked by his global wanderer persona. During this period, he traveled extensively across India, raising funds for Visva-Bharati, while also journeying to China and Japan.

One of the most intriguing episodes of this time was his visit to Argentina, where he spent several months due to illness while en route to Peru’s centenary celebrations. There, he encountered Victoria Ocampo, a brilliant and beautiful Latin intellectual, and their relationship unfolded with elements of admiration, misunderstanding, and emotional intensity. From Argentina, he accepted an invitation to Italy, though his visit remained incomplete due to deteriorating health.

Despite his declining physical strength, Tagore refused to yield—to pause meant to perish, and so he repeatedly revitalized himself with the mantra of movement, "Charaiveti" (Keep Moving Forward). By the end of this volume, we see him in East Bengal, seemingly rejuvenated, urging his countrymen to rekindle the spirit of the Swadeshi Movement, while himself engaging in rural reconstruction at Sriniketan.

However, the socio-political climate was not aligned with his vision. He found Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement and the politics of Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru lacking the essential principles he believed necessary for true nation-building. Yet, amid this discord, he penned profound theatrical works like Raktakarabi and Rathyatra, subtly indicating the rise and fall of socialist ideals in statecraft.

This volume offers a compelling glimpse into a complex, conflict-ridden, yet ever-dynamic phase of Tagore’s life—where he stood at the crossroads of literature, politics, and philosophical introspection.