SESHER KOBITA THE LAST POEM : RABINDRANATH TAGORE

In Sesher Kbaita, Rabindranath
Tagore knocks away social and familial props just to set a young man and a
woman talking to one another. Tagore maps the emotional evolution through a
series of scintillating conversations between the two protagonists, Amit Rai
and Labanyalata. Seshar Kabita has many layers, it is an unusual love story
on the surface, but the deeper one moves into the story, one realizes that
Tagore is subtly slipping in other elements as well. Is love important in
marriage? Does marriage leave space, physical and mental, for both the
partners? And then there is Tagore’s awareness of the Bengali language
itself, with which he plays elaborate language games. The startlingly
contemporaneous engagement with issues of romantic love and the responsibilities
and everydayness of marriage is gripping there may be nods of agreement or
skeptical headshakes, but to avoid reflection on the questions Tagore raises
is impossible.