Tagore returned home : from the outset of his second voyage to England. His brother Jyotirindra lived in a river-side villa at Chandannagar, in West Bengal. Tagore went there to stay with him.
With a sad longing, Tagore recaptured his incredible days spent joyfully along the wooded banks of the river Ganges. The bright sky, breeze, flow of the river, it’s stretch from horizon to horizon, greenery, all were the food and drink for the hungry and thirsty soul of the author.
The author noticed many changes when he visited the Ganges after a long time. The greenery had been replaced by huge noisy mills emitting smoke. This might be for good, but the author could not agree on it.
The author spent his afternoons at the riverside singing songs, to his own tunes and playing the harmonium. Sometimes he sailed in the boat singing songs with his brother playing the violin, till the evening.
At night Tagore sat on the terrace facing the river. He viewed the river reflecting the moonlight, dark trees bordering the river banks and a silver streak separating the land and water.
Tagore described his villa, ‘Moran’s Garden’. It had stone stairs leading to a broad verandah. The rooms were not on the same level and not regularly arranged. The big sitting room facing the landing steps had staired glass windows with coloured pictures.
One picture had a swing hanging from a dense branch with a couple on it. The other picture had people walking on a stair-case leading to a castle like palace in grand dresses. When the light fell on the glass pictures, it made the scene alive.
Tagore’s room was in a round tower, on the top, with windows around viewing the treetops and sky. Tagore wrote his famous poem from this room.
