Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction - Malashri Lal
Re-writing Tagore: Translation as performance - Radha Chakravarty
MEMOIRS
Childhood (from Chhelebela) - Dipannita Datta
My life in my words (from Jeevansmriti) - Uma Dasgupta
LETTERS
To Mrinalini Debi - Malashri Lal
To Victoria Ocampo - Ketaki Kushari Dyson
To Indira Devi Chaudhurani, Sarojini Naidu, Maria Montessori and Margaret Sanger - Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson
FROM GITANJALI
The child who is decked with prince’s robes (No. 8)
Where dost thou stand behind (No. 41)
I thought I should ask of thee (No. 52)
On the slope of the desolate river (No. 64)
She who ever had remained in the depth of my being (No. 66)
In desperate hope I go and search for her (No. 87)
POEMS
Bodily union (Deher Milan) - Malashri Lal
Woman unclothed (Bibashana) - Malashri Lal
Breasts (Staun) - Malashri Lal
The kiss (Chumban) - Malashri Lal
Elder sister (Didi) - Malashri Lal
Dream (Swapna) - Ketaki Kushari Dyson
When the ocean of creation (Kon kshane srijaner samudramanthane) - Soham Pain
Freedom (Mukti) - Sanjukta Dasgupta
Getting lost (Hariye jaoa) - Sanjukta Dasgupta
Remembering (Mone pora) - Uma Dasgupta
Last spring (Shesh basanta) - Charu Chowdhury
The image (Chhabi) - Charu Chowdhury
The guest (Atithi) - Soham Pain
Woman empowered (Sabala) - Sukanta Chaudhuri
Ordinary woman (Sadharan meye) - Jadu Saha
Santhal girl (Saontal meye) - Malashri Lal
The earth (Prithibi) - Joyasree Mukerji
SONGS
She sits by the window (O janalar kachhe boshe) - Aruna Chakravarti
Friend, dear friend (Olo sai) - Aruna Chakravarti
The sky resounds to our Mother’s call (Amra milechhi aj mayer dake) - Aruna Chakravarti
Whosoever may abandon you (Je tomay chhare chharuk) - Sanjukta Dasgupta
Mother, will you send your own son (Ma, ki tui porer dware pathabi) - Sanjukta Dasgupta
O auspicious bride (Sumangali badhu) - Malashri Lal
Krishnakali (Krishnakali) - Soham Pain
I am Chitrangada (Ami Chitrangada rajendro nondini) - Reba Som
She who dwelt in secret (Ei sharat alo-r kamol bane) - Aruna Chakravarti
EPICS AND MYTHOLOGY
A vision of India’s history - Rabindranath Tagore
Urbashi (Urbashi) - Charu Chowdhury
Dialogue between Kama and Kunti (Karna–Kunti sambad) - Ketaki Kushari Dyson
Kacha and Devayani (Bidaay abhisaap) - Rabindranath Tagore
The mother’s prayer (Gandharir abedan) - Rabindranath Tagore
PLAY
Chitra (Chitra) - Rabindranath Tagore
SHORT STORIES
Profit and loss (Denapaona) - William Radice
The housewife (Ginni) - Soham Pain
Kabuliwala (Kabuliwallah) - Malobika Chaudhuri
Mahamaya (Mahamaya) - Malashri Lal
The girl between (Madhyabartini) - Krishna Dutta and Mary Lago
Giribala (Manbhanjan) - Rabindranath Tagore
The visitor (Atithi) - Malobika Chaudhuri
False hope (Durasha) - William Radice
The wife’s letter (Streer patra) - Supriya Chaudhuri
Haimanti (Haimanti) - Joyasree Mukerji
The story of the Muslim woman (Musalmanir galpa) - Swapan Kumar Banerjee
ESSAYS, LECTURES AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Indian ideal of marriage - Rabindranath Tagore
Woman (from Personality) - Rabindranath Tagore
Woman and home - Rabindranath Tagore
TRAVELOGUES
Epistles from Europe (Europe-probashir patra) - Soham Pain
Travel Diary from Japan (Japan jatrir diary) - Soham Pain
EPILOGUE
The path of your creation (Tomar srishtir path) - Supriya Chaudhuri
Index

About the Author

Malashri Lal is currently the Dean of Colleges, and also the Dean, Academic Activities and Projects at the University of Delhi. She has held other senior administrative positions in the same university, including that of the Head, Department of English (2000–03), Director, Women’s Studies (2000–06) and Joint Director, South Campus (2006–11). As a recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright, the British Council, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Shastri-Indo Canadian Institute, she has conducted research in prestigious institutes, including Harvard University, USA, Bellagio, Italy, and Newcastle, UK. Malashri Lal’s academic specialisation is in Women and Gender Studies, a subject on which she has written ten books. Her book The law of the threshold: Women writers in Indian English was widely acclaimed. Recently, she has co-edited In search of Sita: Revisiting mythology and Chamba–achamba: Women’s oral narratives. She has served on international book award committees, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.