The Home and The World

Hello Readers!

 Today I'm going to write about The Home and The World Thinking Activity task given by our Ma'am. So let's see... 

The other important benefit of this activity is we get any information second with the use of digital humanities. Traditional humanities are very time consuming. But digital humanities take only a few seconds to find the data.

The Home and the World (1916) which he inputted his beliefs on The Swadeshi Movement which was a movement in obtaining independence from the British colonization, which the movement had started around 1905. (India Today). In his novel he shows two different sides of The Swadeshi Movement, one whose side would do whatever it takes to gain freedom from British involving violence and sacrificing their own morals. While on the other side was not as outspoken, but still wanted the best for India, but maintaining their morals in a changing time. In the journal article “I Will Make Bimala One With My Country: Gender and Nationalism in Tagore’s The Home and The World” by Indrani Mitra she writes, “Swadeshi movement went from a campaign for constructive self-development to militant activism in its final phase.” (Mitra 244). Tagore, displayed this side of the movement through Sandip, an outspoken activist who lures Bimala to his side while also manipulating her. Kathleen M O’Connell writes in the article “Education at Santiniketan”, “Initially a leader in the movement, he became disillusioned as the movement disintegrated through factionalism and terrorism.” (O’Connell 25). Tagore did not want think the people should not resort to violence to gain freedom for India. His novel was a way to express his feelings on the movement. As Nikhil says in this line in The Home and the World, “My heart has become all eyes. The things that should not be seen, the things I do not want to see,-these I must see.” (Tagore 38). In this line, Nikhil is almost speaking as Tagore himself, not wanting to see how some people have changed for the worse. It is a message Tagore is saying to the people of India, to look what has become of the movement, to not turn to violence and think for the good of the people.

Bimala plays a central role in The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore as readers see she is caught between two different sides of the movement. In the beginning of the novel, Bimala has been married to her husband Nikhil for some time, and who is dedicated to her husband first foremost. As Pokkuluri Suryaprakash writes in the journal “An Appreciation of the Principal Characters in Tagore’s The Home and the World”, “Bimala is the household goddess and the queen in the happy limited world of home.” (Suryaprakash). Bimala is sheltered and has lived a comfortable life in her home. Her needs are met, and her husband Nikhil treats her well. When Nikhil tells her to go outside and experience the world she does not want to as she does not want to go through any change. She says, “If the outside world has got on so long without me, it may go on for some time longer. It need not pine to death for me.” (Tagore 10). Bimala feels that the world does not want her, as it is something she has experience for a while, and is happy the way things are. In the article, “Revisiting Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World” by Cielo Festino they write, “His desire is to see her as a free woman, who will choose to love him, not because he dictates it, but of her own accord..” (Festino). Nikhil wants her to be free and to be free to love him. Bimala eventually budges, but she had no desire to experience the world and to be a part of it. Her desired place was to be in the home.

All That Glitters Isn't Golden

Bimala, after going out into the world was enticed by Sandip, a man part of the Swadeshi Movement, but resorts to violence to get what he wants entices her. Bimala after hearing words of seduction by Sandip is influenced by him, and resorts to doing things that she would not normally do, like be actively against her husband on certain social topics. Granted, it was because she was told by Sandip what to think. Sandip puts her on a pedestal and she savors it. In the article “Three Women and their Men: Comaparing Tagore’s Bimala with James’s Isavel and Foster’s Lilia” by Amiya Bhushain Sharma, she writes, “Her flaw is innocence or simple mindedness.” (Sharma). Bimala likes the attention she is getting from Sandip and feels she is important because of it. In the article “Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World: Story of the Failure of the Nationalist Project” by Chi Pham they write, “It seems like the more Bimala talks, the more invisible she becomes, as she just mimics vocabularies and thoughts of others. (Chi). Bimala doesn’t think for herself and she didn’t know what to expect when she let the world in. Thus, it was easy for her to follow under Sandip’s spell. “Sandip Babu made it clear how all the country was in need of me. I had no difficulty in believing this at the time, for I felt that I had the power to do everything.” (Tagore 53). Bimala is not a good example who is a follower of the movement, as she goes along what others tell her. Sandip was able to manipulate her as she did not have experience of the outside world. She claimed to be for the movement, but she was supporting the wrong people the whole time.T

The Unsuspecting Hero

Nikhil is what Tagore wanted for people to follow as an example to be part of a movement. Nikhil was for the Swadeshi Movement, but he did not turn to violence to accomplish his goals. He did not agree with Sandip’s views on doing whatever it takes to gain independence, including unmoral deeds. As David W. Atkinson’s article “Tagore’s The Home and the World a New World Order”, he writes, “Nikhil is the enlightened humanist who asserts that truth cannot be imposed…” (Atkinson 96). Nikhil knows his values, and still remains true to himself, even when everyone is against him, including Bimala. It is easy to go along with what everyone is saying, but he does not budge. In A.H. Somjee’s article “The Political Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore” they write, “An imperialist ‘Nation’ does a great deal of harm to its own people as well to people whom it subjugates.” (Somjee 142). This is similar to what Nikhil says to the characters in the story. They are supposed to be fighting from oppression, but then go against some of their own people. There is constant back and forth between Sandip and Nikhil, but Tagore shows Nikhil in a positive light. Nikhil says in the novel, “To tyrannize for the country is to tyrannize over the country. But that I am afraid you will never understand.” (Tagore 144). This accurately represents what Tagore wanted his readers to get. He was seeing his own people turn against one another when they all needed to be united. He was hoping the message to the world to not resort to violence as Sandip’s character was doing. Bimala was under his spell and finally she was able to wake up and see what kind of a person he truly was, by doing horrible things for his own gain. Nikhil is the unsuspecting hero the whole time, and he represents what Tagore wanted from the Swadeshi Movement to follow to accomplish their goals for freedom.