Rabindranath Tagore in England This picture was taken in 1878 or 1879. Rabindranath boarded "Poona" on the twentieth of September, 1878. The ship left Bombay at 5 PM. For six days he was sea sick and confined to his room. After six days the ship approached Aden. From Aden to Suez it took five more days. He got off at Suez. He was in a group of three Bengalis and an Englishman. They bargained around for a boat and finally had a reluctant Arab boatman agree to take them to Suez railway station for a cheap fare. Rabindranath boarded a train for Alexandria at Suez railway station. It was a slow moving train. It moved all night and in the morning he got up to find himself covered by a layer of dust. When he reached Alexandria he looked like a dust covered Hindu holy man, a sadhu. He expected to see a desert on the two sides of the railway track. Instead he saw green farmland with scattered date trees with bunches of dates hanging from them. Rabindranath boarded "Mongolia" in the port of Alexandria. He took a bath in the ship to wash off the dust and then went out to see the city of Alexandria. Alexandria appeared to be prosperous. The streets were paved with stones. There were many large houses and large stores in the city. The port of Alexandria was very large with many ships. The ship crossed the Mediterranean Sea in five days and reached Brindisi, Italy on a cold moonlit night. Rabindranath landed in Europe for the first time, checked into a hotel in Brindisi at 3 AM and went to bed. The next day he got into a horse-drawn carriage to see the town of Brindisi. Brindisi was a small town: a few houses, shops and streets. That was it. At 3 PM he boarded a train for Paris, France. The railway track went through a beautiful landscape with hills, rivers, lakes, huts, farms, and small villages visible from the train. In the morning he reached Paris. What a gorgeous city it was. Monuments, fountains, palaces, carriages, horses, crowds of well dressed women and men. It seemed like no poor man lived in Paris. Rabindranath stayed in Paris for only one day. He visited museums to look at many beautiful paintings and sculptures. Then he went to London from Paris. It was a gloomy, dark city. The sky was cloudy, the air was foggy. It was raining. There was mud on the streets. Rabindranath stayed in London for just two hours. But he would have to come back to this city again and again. "Aaj   jyotsna ra-te sa-ba-e gachhe bo-ne          Basanter a-e matal sami-ra-ne              Jabo na go jabo na je,              Thakbo pa-re gharer ma-jhe          A-e niralai rabo aapan ko-ne          Jabo na a-e matal sami-ra-ne          Aamar a ghar bahu jatan ko-re          Dhute ha-be muchh-te ha-be mo-re              Aamare je jag-te ha-be,              Ki jani se aasbe ka-be          Jadi aamai pa-re tahar mo-ne          Jabo na a-e matal sami-ra-ne" Previous  Next  List  Home