Behind the Scene

From Bogra

The Poet's Belongings

Hasibur Rahman Bilu

General Secretary of the Rabinda Sahitya Parishad Matiur Rahman has taken the initiative of collecting Tagore memorabilia lost from his estates for a Tagore memorabilia museum. He started doing this in 2003 helped by the enthusiasm of Tapan Kumar Baral, an employee of the Bangladesh Khudro o Kutir Shilpo Shongstha.

Dr. Jahangir Alam, current Executive Officer of Atrai upazila in Naoga district has also offered his help. He and other workers of the district have gotten together and found big beds, dining tables, small tables, chairs belonging to or used by the great poet.

Matiur Rahman said that he had found a wall clock that had been lost from the Rabindranath estate and he handed it over to Deputy Commissioner Shafiul Karim and that's how the museum's journey started March 4th. However, the museum will be officially inaugurated on 25th Boishakh, Tagore's birthday.

Swapan, who lives in Natore's Pakisha village, will soon be contributing some handwritten Tagore manuscripts and a large bed. Matiur Rahman wants to develop the museum using nine rooms of Tagore's house, but first he needs to make some structural improvements. He also plans to set up a sculpture of the kobiguru in the front yard. Work on the sculpture has just ended.

The nine rooms to be used will house various items of furniture Rabindranath used- a seven-foot high dressing table, an easy chair, two safes and more. Of the 27 known Tagore safes, six have been found. Other items to be displayed in the museum are a power tiller, a bathtub, and an easy-chair.

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