A Quiet Romance: Rabindranath Tagore and Assam

The enduring spirit of humanism in Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore’s reflections on Assam were long scattered across letters, essays, speeches, and brief observations—fragmented and often overlooked. Usharanjan Bhattacharya’s Bengali work Neel Shonalir Bani, translated as A Quiet Romance: Rabindranath Tagore and Assam by Haimanti Mitra, brings these impressions together with clarity and depth. Tagore’s writings evoke the Himalayan foothills, dense forests, and Assamese society, highlighting its linguistic plurality and the coexistence of Assamese and Bengali cultures. He noted the mutual admiration between writers of both regions and acknowledged leading Assamese litterateurs.
The book also examines the literary environments of Assam and Bengal, where journals, correspondence, translations, songs, and criticism encouraged dialogue. It shows how the Tagore household, through Santiniketan, Visva-Bharati, and personal ties, nurtured this literary exchange.