The Tagore's of Jorasanko-Book Review of Jorasanko.

 

The Tagore's of Jorasanko-Book Review of Jorasanko.

The clan was called the Tagore's of Jorasanko affectionately by the people who know them. This book written by Aruna Chakravarti is a novel based on the women of Tagore's house starting with Rabindranath Tagore's grandmother Digambari to his wife mrinalini.

AUTHOR: Aruna Chakravarti.

PAGE COUNT: 406.

Price: 448 INR.

GENRE: Non-Fiction.

RATING:5/5.

I'm reading this novel after watching "Stories by Rabindranath Tagore" a fictional series based on his 4 novels and 8 novellas documented by an epic channel. So I really felt this like an extension or BTS to the series.

The first thing that will come into everyone's mind after reading the heading of the blog is Rabindranath Tagore. As of Rabindranath Tagore, we only know him as a great land poet and first novel prize winner from our country. This book is beyond that it unfolds many characters of the Tagore clan like Debendranath Tagore the founder of Bhramo samaj, Satyendranath Tagore first ICS officer of our country, SwarnaKumari Devi First women Novelist and many more. The book itself has a family tree on its first page. The novel covers every incident that happened from the year 1859-1902.

The novel starts at Jnanandini's wedding (Satyendra's wife). This book is a major escape to the world of the mid-1850s the author has beautifully weaved the chapter's from one generation of women to another and I think this book conveys a perfect reflection of the quote Every woman is behind a man's success. Also, we usually tend to look up to such families or household's envy them, and consider them as prestigious and lucky to be part of the clan and that's where the author doesn't try to hide or misrepresent reality-one of the major reason to be my favorite novel. After completing this novel, I felt them like any other normal Indian family bounded by traditions and stereotypes. The family had major impacts from the renaissance going around those times, for example, debedranath quitting Hinduism and joining bramho samaj that leads the family to split into two and splitting of Bengal into West Bengal and Bangladesh and of course British colonization. The book leads the reader in awe of numerous cultures and traditions practiced in Joint Family and the thing that in Joint family everyone is closed to you expected your parents.

One of the impactful characters of the novel is Kadambari Devi sister-in-law of Rabindranath Tagore. She was the one who inspired Rabindranath to write poems and also the only critique and major admirer of his work. I don't know why but her part in the novel was intriguing from her journey into the Tagore household to her mysterious suicidal death in her apartments. There are also some references to Tagore's poem in the middle of the novel every now and then. Jorasanko also indirectly reflects on Women and Child health care because there numerous pre-mature deaths of both women and child including mrinalini wife of Rabindranath. The novel ends with founding Shantiniketan- The gurukul of arts and the death of mrinalini due to blood poison. Overall it's a great novel to escape into times when India was colonized and many major revolutions were taking place in history and also it's an intent novel for readers who are interested in history, arts, politics.