Prof. (Dr.) Asghar Ali Ansri

                                                     School of Languages, Literature& Society

                                                  Jaipur National University, Jaipur, India

Rabindranath Tagore was one of the greatest writers, social reformers and freedom fighters of India. He wrote plays, novels, short stories and poems and he became the first Indian to receive Nobel Prize for literature for his collection of lyrics, Geetanjali. In this blog we will explore his novella, The Broken Nest which has been adapted into an Indian film, Charulata by Satyajit Roy in 1964.

The Broken Nest depicts the inner condition of a neglected and lonely wife, Charulata who has been married to a loving and caring but busy husband, Bhupati. He is an English educated wealthy person and is passionate about journalism. He wanted to expand his newspaper business for which he remains busy day and night. Due to his busy schedule, Bhupati does not give time to his wife, Charulata. As a result Charulata feels loneliness. She needs someone to talk to and share her feelings. She writes poetry and is interested in music. But there is no one in the house to whom she can discuss her poetry. She is young and beautiful. She has some desires but her desires are unfulfilled.

Bhupati understands her inner condition. So he invites his cousin, Amal to live with them and tutor music to charulata.  Amal is of same age of Charulata. He is, like Charulata, interested in poetry and music. Due to their equal age, same interest and the same hobbies, both of them become intimate with each other. Charulata forgets that she is married. She is very happy in the company of Amal. Their intimacy grows through a series of innocent incidents. Both of them enjoy listening music. Amal shows his writings to Charulata. It becomes more and more intimate.

With the passage of time Amal becomes a successful and popular author. Whereas, Bhupati becomes bankrupt in the news paper business. After a long time, when Amal and Charulata are ready to cross the limit in their intimacy, Amal realizes his mistakes that he has become close to Charulata with whom he has a sacred relation. So he leaves Bhupati’s house. Charulata tries to stop him but in vain.

On the other hand when Bhupati realizes that his wife has become intimate to Amal , he is completely broken and burns all the poems which he had written for Charulata but could not show her. He leaves for South India where he has got a job. He tries to convince Charulata to come with him, but she stays there and they depart for ever. Thus we see that at the end of the story Charulata is left alone to suffer. If you find the blog interesting , please share and forward to your friends.