Toru Dutt Read online

  The second factor that determined the course of education in India was the advent and activities of Christian missionaries. They did considerable work in the field of education and social service. Carey, Ward and Marshman the three missionaries founded the Serampore College in 1818 mainly with a view to Christian enlightenment

  In the meantime by the efforts of the missionaries, the two great charters of the company, viz those of 1813 and 1838, were passed. The education of Indian people was now included within the duties of the Company and a grant was sanctioned for establishment of English schools, thereby lying the foundation of the modern educational system.

  The third factor in deciding the course of education in India was Macaulay’s Minute, declaring that it was both necessary and possible “to make natives of this country good English scholars and to this end our efforts ought to be directed.” McCauley strongly recommended that the object of educational policy in India should be the spread of Western learning through the medium of the English language.

  The implementation of the western educational system in the first quarter of the 19th century inaugurated the process of modernization in all fields of Indian life. 13 The introduction —the infiltration—of western culture, the study of English literature, the adoption of western scientific techniques brought a sense of urgency, a flair for practicality and an alertness in thought and action. The long suppressed intellectual and critical desire was quickened into sudden life a new efflorescence was visible everywhere, and the reawakening Indian spirit went forth to meet the violent challenges of the values of modern science and the civilization of the west. 14

  “Under English rule in India”, writes Mr. Arthur Mayhew, “The impact of two civilizations may have produced unrest. But it has also sustained and stimulated life.”15 This is an extraordinary story of cultural solidarity, adaptability and assimilative potency.

  Such was the ‘moment’, the phoenix-hour that produced Indo-Anglian literature, solemnly and naturally as leaves grow upon a tree. Many men and women started to read and speak and understand English, and they soon started writing also, they became Indo-Anglians out of necessity, but it is to their credit that they made a virtue of this necessity. A new generation conversed and corresponded in English; Indianism and ‘Babuism’ became the order of the day. The educated community evolved into a superior caste drifted apart and speedily lost touch with the masses. Under such circumstances, the wit of the educated Indian seesawed between his mother tongue and English and again western and oriental civilization. It was surely an unfavourable atmosphere for any type of healthy literary growth.

  Even than, many Indians quickly mastered the intricacies of the English language and made it a fit vehicle for the communication of ideas. Most of early Indian writing was, naturally enough in prose. As more and more Indians received education in English, the Indo-Anglian found his audience increasing and this naturally encouraged him to write more frequently.

  Indian writing in English was but one manifestation of the new creative urge in India—what is often referred to as the literary renaissance in India. 16 The exhausted, almost barren, native soil received the new rich fertilizer from the west; this cross-fertilization of eastern and western ideas is the root of the Indian renaissance, which took place in 19th century. In this renaissance the Dutts— Michael Madhusudan, Govin Chunder and his brothers and Toru Dutt –played a prominent role.17

  Another factor that inspired the Indo-Anglian to attempt self-expression in English was the meritorious work of the Anglo-Indian poets. Sir William Jones, John Layden, Henry Derozio, Meredith Parker, David Lester Richardson, Sir Edwin Arnold and William Waterfield were among the many Anglo-Indian administrators and Orientalist who derived their poetic inspiration from traditional Indian themes, and thus added a new chapter to the story of English poetry. Indians who read the work of these poets were in turn inspired to try their own hands at poetic composition. They had before them the unique achievements of Anglo-Indians and the great masters—Milton, Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Tennyson etc. as models—of English literature.

  The Indo-Anglians of the early days were the creators of a civilization checked on the way; their past was full of humiliations and frustrations, and their future was an intriguing and uncertain thing. They were, in a state of spiritual drift and aimlessness. By and by the clouds began to clear, and out of the life giving rains of a new culture they tried to rediscover their souls. In this process of re-discovery, Bengali led the way, but others were not slow to follow.

  The renaissance in modern Indian literature begins with Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who was destined to act as bridge between India and England. He was an indefatigable worker, a fighter, a builder of modern India, in whom the seer, the idealist, the reformer and the shrewd man of affairs were fused in admirable proportion and made him a veritable Titan among man.18

  The Brahma Samaj inspired similar other movements in India. The most important ones were the Prarthna Samaj and the Arya Samaj. The Arya Samaj was a more potential force in cultural and social field than the Prarthna Samaj. Swami Dayanand Saraswati founded it in 1857 in Bombay. The chief contribution of Arya Samaj in the field of education, is the establishment of Dayananda Anglo- Vedic School at Lahore,which in a very short time developed into a College and has become the pattern of many educational institutions maintained by the School. Later on the more orthodox section of the Samaj laid the foundation of Gurukul at Haridwar. It is “a unique institution to perpetuate the educational ideals of Ancient India.” 19

  Apart from these Samajas and their renowned followers, the name of Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda will always be remembered for their unique contributions to the furtherance of the cause of social and spiritual regeneration of the country. They strove to reveal “the harmony of all religion”.20 Swami Vivekananda laid the foundation of the great organization –Ramakrishna Mission- which bears the name of his Guru. It was he who made it “the greatest spiritual force in modern India.”21

  In order to appreciate the significance of the Indo-Anglian achievement in poetry, one has to remember the innumerable Indo-Anglian boats that capsized on the sea of poetry. Some of these were never more than paper-boats, hardly carrying any merchandise other than the writer’s own impatient longing for fame. On the other hand, a number of promising writers adorned the galaxy of Indo-Anglian poetry and thereby enriched its stock and quickened the pace of its growth and expansion. The contribution of Bengal to the growth of Indo-Anglian literature has been immense and remarkable.

  The first quarter of the 19th century was the period of incubation for Indo- Anglian poetry and Henry Vivian Derozio was the moving spirit then. Derozio was Indian only on his mother’s side, his father being a Portuguese.22 A poet as well as a teacher of poetry, Derozio loved India and loved Nature; and he also loved his students whom he addressed in his inspiring poem, To The Pupils of the Hindu College.

  As a poet his achievements are creditable and promising. Like Keats and Chatterton before him, like Toru Dutt and Aru Dutt after him, Derozio moved in the fields of poetry for all too brief a period; all of them were alike in the Shalleyn phrase, “inheritors of unfulfilled renown.” He died of Cholera on 23rd December 1831. Mr. Oaten condoled his death in these words, “what English literature lost through the early death of Keats, Anglo-Indian lost, in lesser degree when Derozio died; for in both men there was a passionate temperament combined with unbounded sympathy with nature, both died while their powers were not yet fully developed.”

  As a poet, Derozio was obviously influenced by the Romantics—notably Byron, Scott and Moore. His The Fakir of Jungheera, is full of Byronic echoes; and the ardent social reformer too peeps through the poem with a face twisted by pain and also lit up with a hope for future. Derozio totally identified himself with India and hence he has been called the National Bard of Modern India, a true predecessor of the great poets of future.

  David Lester Richardson continued the noble tradition established by D
erozio. His poems and essays offer us a delightful reading. His selection from the British poets published in 1840, shows his liberal view at the range of literature. He was a very good scholar of Shakespeare and his role as a patron of education in Calcutta cannot be, in any way minimized. The teaching of Professor Richardson exercised a wholesome influence on the future life of Govin Chunder Dutt.

  Kashiprasad Ghose was one of the first Indians to publish a regular volume of English verse. His The Shair And The Ministrel, a book of two hundred pages printed by the India Gazette Press and dedicated to Lord William. The poem is saturated with tedious moralizing and traditional descriptions of nature. The style is highly ornamental and conventional and figures of speech are mostly drawn from Bengali and Sanskrit poetry.

  Michael Madhusudan Dutt is the next outstanding name in the history of Indo-Anglian poetry after Derozio. A Hindu by birth, he embraced Christianity and led a chequered life and died in the prime of his youth. His fame now rests solely on his great Bengali Epic Meghnad-Badha of which an English rendering was published in 1879. His long metrical romance in English The Captive Lady, won general approval with its Byronic fluency and gusto. His other works in English include Visions of the Past in blank verse, translation of Sarmista (1859), Ratnavali (1858) and the farce Is This called Civilization? (1871)

  He has been a great inspiration to successive generations of poets. In his In Memorium the poet Nabokissen Ghose (Ram Sharma) wrote as follows:

  Hushed is the tuneful voice that thrilled the soul,

  Silent the lyre, whose swelling notes did roll,

  In streams of music sweet that did impart

  A life-a soul even to the dullest heart.

  It will interest the reader to learn something about the family from which the poet descended; more especially as genius must derive much of its form, if not its force, from the environment in which it has been nurtured. Even during the days of Madhusudan the Dutt family had distinguished itself for its literary and creative activities in the whole of Bengal. In the year 1851, Har Chunder Dutt produced in Calcutta a small volume of poetry called Fugitive Pieces, many of which were reprinted twenty years later in his second volume named Lotus Leaves. Both works are slight but they contain a variety of themes drawn from Indian history. The Dutt Family Album (1870) containing about 200 poems was written by Omesh Chunder Dutt, Govin Chunder Dutt, Greece Chunder Dutt, Hur Chunder Dutt, three of whom were the sons of Rasamoy Dutt, the secretary of Hindu College Committee and commissioner of the Court of Requests. It is a work of great interest and importance. In the Preface, the joint authors declare it to be the piece of ‘a curiosity’ and one of ‘foreigners, natives of India … educated out of India. In fact, this Album is the first to ‘represent the older school of Bengali poetry in English.’ The quality of the verse, the range and variety of theme, the command of various metrical forms and the restraint and dignity of style are everywhere pleasing. Indian history, legend and landscape, the picturesque elements of the Christian and the Hindu faith, and such ideas as would attract an Oriental in his first intercourse with the West; provide the subject of their poems.

  Govin Chunder, the father of Toru Dutt, made remarkable contributions to the Album. It is didactic in nature and themes are drawn either from Christian theology or in narratives from the Scriptures. He had a wonderful command of an intricate stanza form. The Album throws light on the atmosphere of Govin’s house, an ideal atmosphere by all means for Aru Dutt and Toru Dutt.

  Omesh Chunder Dutt, also well known as a French and German scholar, was a nephew of Govin Chunder. Attracted by the legends of India he wrote original verses in English and made metrical translations from some of the French and German poets. The major portion of the poems in The Dutt Family Album is his work. It is unfortunate that his “undoubted talent for narratives did not find greater scope in the abundant historical material of India.”23

  The other collaborators of The Dutt Family Album were Greece Chunder Dutt and Hur Chunder Dutt. The latter has already been mentioned here and his part to the Album was slight and amounted to eleven poems in all.

  Greece Chunder Dutt contributed 47 poems to the Album. In 1887, he published a separate volume of poems entitled Cherry Blossoms. The author had specialized in different stanza forms. The subjects of these poems are as varied as India. With this volume of Greece Chunder Dutt, the poetical efforts of gifted quartet of relatives may be said to have reached the highest peak of achievement.

  The literary mantle of the Dutt family fell on the shoulders of Mr. Romesh Chunder Dutt, who was eight years older to Toru. His literary abilities were unquestionably of a very high order.

  Toru inherited a rich intellectual and moral treasure from her ancestors. The Dutts of Rmbagan far excelled the other aristocratic families of Bengal in their intelligence and literary culture. They did not share in the general belief that English education served only to undermine the deep-rooted ancient faiths and the ideals of life cherished by the Indian people; they saw in it the hope of a new intellectual life and a means of gradually uplifting the whole nation. Poetry seemed to be as natural to them as song to birds. Indeed, it was a happy expression of Professor Richardson’s when he styled them ‘The Rambagan nest of singingbirds’. It is time to throw light on her life and formative influences that played an important role on building her literary career.

  Toru Dutt ‘the fragile, exotic blossom of song’ 24 who has made her rank and place among Indo- Anglian poets was born on 4th March 1856, in a Hindu family of Calcutta. ‘The childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day’ is peculiarly true in her case. The intelligence shown in her early years, while going through the alphabet and the rudimentary parts of education under the eyes of her loving father, foreshadowed her astonishing literary achievement. Toru Dutt, the youngest of the three children, was brought up with great care and tenderness by her parents in a beautiful, religious and cultural environment. She had a rich and respectable ancestry. Her father Govin Chunder Dutt, was rich both materially and intellectually. A poet and linguist in his own right, besides contributing in The Dutt Family Album, he published also the Loyal Hours (1876) and Cherry Stones (1881). Toru Dutt thus breathed in her infancy an atmosphere in which lofty thoughts naturally found rhythmical expression.

  Toru’s mother, Kshetramoni, a gentle lady of refined sensibility, was well versed in English and Bengali. It is evident from her translation of the Blood of Jesus, which was published by the Tract and Book society of Calcutta. She was a woman of sweet disposition and was steeped in the Hindu myths and legends. She was mainly responsible for giving a fine taste to her daughter in literary performance. Bishop Clifford says, “ ... if Toru inherited gifts from her father’s side of the family, she must have received the moral beauty and sweetness of her character largely from her mother.25

  Toru was conscious of the influence her father had exercised in shaping her mental caliber. In a letter to Miss Martin dated October 7, 1876; Toru has acknowledged the inspiring help she received form her father. She recalled gratefully “without Papa I should never have known good poetry from bad, but he used to take such pains with us … when we were quite little once … I wonder what I should have been without my father, nothing very enviable or desirable, I know.” 26 She must also have been inspired by the example of her uncles who wrote in the Dutt Family Album. Toru Dutt was fortunate enough to have been born in the renowned Dutt family at Rambagan. Born and brought up in such a cultured family; it was natural for Toru Dutt to indulge in serious literary pursuits.

  Various happy and unhappy, shattering and creative events took place with incredibly rapid succession in Toru’s life. When she was 6 years old in 1862, fascinated by the material glitter and spiritual aura of the west, the Dutt’s embraced Christianity and drifted away from Hinduism. The conversion of faith caused a temporary estrangement between Toru’s parents; the mother being a devout Hindu lady. At the critical moment of the family, Mr. Govin Chunder wrote a touching poem entitled
The Hindu Convert to His Wife. An extract of which is quoted below:

  Nay, part not so one moment stay,

  Repel me not with scorn.

  Like others, wilt thou turn away,

  And leave me quite forlorn?

  Wilt thou too join the scoffing crowd,

  The cold, the heartless, and the proud.27

  Persuasions of this kind had good effect on Mrs. Dutt. Later she reconciled herself to the changed situation and became “an ardent Christian.” 28 Hers was on the whole a life of trial and tribulations but she bore all with angelic patience and died in peace, exemplifying in Bishop Clifford’s words, “the great Christian saying ‘Death is swallowed up in Victory.” Her philanthropy is well known, and after her death in 1900, she left a handsome contribution towards the building of the Oxford Mission Church at Berisal, one of the finest in Bengal.

  Born in such a family Toru Dutt, as well as other children of Mr. Dutt, made the Bible a main support of her tormented life. She had full faith in God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. She was a regular goer to the church and played

  “a small harmonium”29 there. In one of her letters, she told Mary Martin, “We go to the Old Church on every Sunday; it is very far from our house that is the only inconvenience.”30 She also told Miss Martin with sadness that her grandmother was still a Hindu.31

  In her physical constitution, Toru was frail and fragile, when she was a little girl, her father gives a graphic picture of her as:

  Puny and elf like, with disheveled tresses,

  Self willed and shy ne’er heeding that I call,

  Intent to pay her tenderest addresses