chitta ranjan in his private life.

the unfolding of a man's character depends to a great extent on the atmosphere created by his family. brought up by an ideal mother chitta ranjan came to regard his country as the other self of his mother. the sweet remembrance of his dear mother brings tears to his eyes and gives him strength to suffer for his country. his mother was a noble lady whose sense of duty was exceptional, whose piety exemplary and fortitude unique. during the evil days of her husband when she could not even meet her house-hold expenses and had no servants to wait on her, she did every house-hold work with her own hands and prepared the meals of her husband and children and other members of the house, while she herself had to fast now and then for want of food; but all this time a sweet smile played on her lips. of her generosity and liberality we shall here cite an instance. in her house at that time there lived a poor relation of her husband. this man was a habituated drunkard. almost every day whenever he lost his sobriety he used abusive language to chitta ranjan's mother. bhuban babu was much annoyed and wanted to turn him out of the house, but his wife prevented him by saying that the poor man would then die of starvation and as for herself she did never mind the man's conduct. she was an incarnation as it were of sincerity and generosity, to her could justly be applied the maxim of "weeping with them that weep." in fact the knowledge of other men's distress drew a flood of tears to her eyes.[20] she was a fountain of affection which was not reserved only for her children. one of her husband's friends lost his wife on child-birth. chitta ranjan's mother took charge of the newly-born baby but unfortunately it did not live long. a few months before her death at purulia a poor maid servant of her house fell seriously ill and was dying for want of diet, she arranged everything for the proper treatment of the servant and saved the life of the poor woman. she was always at the bed-side of the poor, was ready to give a helping hand to the needy and tried her utmost to allay the distress of the afflicted. no beggar went away disappointed from her door. she never desired for luxury. she gladly parted with all her ornaments to repay her husband's debts.

but in the midst of all these softer feelings she had a very strong element in her composition. she was very sensitive. she would not tolerate any injustice done to her. she was equally noted for her liberality and uprightness. chitta ranjan's character was moulded to a great extent on her mother's ideal. he was much devoted to his mother who also loved him very dearly. but unfortunately she could not see her dearest son at the time of her death. she laid on her breast chitta ranjan's famous work "sagar-sangit" and privately told her husband before she breathed her last that if she was to be born a woman again she would like to have such a son. just at the time of his mother's expiry when chitta ranjan was coming from bombay, he saw in a dream in the train his mother appearing before him. was it a presentiment?

about six months after the death of his mother chitta ranjan lost his father. he performed the sradh ceremony with great eclat, the chief feature of the celebration was the feeding of the poor. chitta ranjan was personally[21] present to see the hungry beggars take various sorts of rich food to their entire satisfaction. it was his explicit order that the poor should be given all that was liked by his father. it was even a treat for the gods to see the poor beggars ring the sky with loud shouts of applause and for many months it was a general talk in the localities how chitta ranjan had fed the poor.

in his private life chitta ranjan had to pass through many tests. he was the eldest son of his father and as such since his father's illness the burden of maintaining and educating his brothers and sisters fell upon him. he gladly took up this charge and the result is well-known.

his youngest brother, basanta ranjan was a rising barrister of the calcutta high court when his career was cut short by death. his only brother now living is srijut profulla ranjan das who is a puisne judge of the patna high court, profulla ranjan is a renowned writer of english verses some of which are inserted in mr. dunn's bengali book of english verse. his sister srijukta amala devi was famous throughout india as a singer of songs, even the other day at the besant session of the indian national congress at calcutta she thrilled the audience with her charming voice when she sang the famous song "bande mataram." a few years ago amala devi started an orphanage at purulia where with the financial help of her eldest brother she gave shelter to the blind, lame and the suffering. while engaged in this noble work amala devi passed away after a short but active career. chitta ranjan's eldest sister lost her husband at an early age and chitta ranjan had to look after her children. another of his sisters died very young. chitta ranjan's another sister srijukta urmila devi who has recently lost her husband has dedicated her life and energy to the services of her[22] country and has started an ideal institution for educating bengali girls on national lines.

in 1897 chitta ranjan married srijukta basanti devi, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of the late babu barada halder, dewan of the bijni estate. in her chitta ranjan has found an ideal house-wife and a noble partner in life. she is the best consoler in her husband's distress, the most impartial critic of his poetry and now the constant companion in his patriotic activities. her face always beams with a holy light of virtue and her eyes smile with a pure lusture. she is highly educated though without any degree. in 1919 the ladies of amritasar in the annual session of the all-india ladies' conference nominated her as their president. basanti devi naturally fought shy of public appearance but she could not disregard the request of her sisters of the punjab in the hour of their trial and suffering. in her address she greatly dwelt upon the building-up of the indian womanhood on eastern lines. "remember" she said, "the ideal of indian womanhood is sati, sabitri and sita. if our experience so requires it, reform indian ideal to suit the present times but seek not to destroy the eternal ideal of india. our home shall always be the indian home."

chitta ranjan earned a good deal in his life, but spent his all for the cause of the suffering humanity. charity gives him unmixed pleasure. he who takes is blest but thrice blessed is he that gives. for that pleasure consists in the fulfilment of one's life-mission. so unlimited was his charity that when in this non-cooperation movement he gave up his practice to serve his mother country he had no standing income but a debt of about three lacs of rupees. for he never cared to provide for the future. had he wished it, he could[23] have now become one of the richest zamindars of bengal. but wealth has no charm for those whose heart is moved by the sufferings of others. even now when he himself has taken the bowl of a beggar for the cause of his country, the poor never return from his door disappointed. it reminds us of a story we heard in our childhood that there lived once in our locality a poor beggar, he was so kind-hearted that he used to give away his day's earning to any of his fasting neighbours, while he himself had to fast the whole day.

christ once said to his disciples that their right hand should not know what their left hand does. this is also true of chitta ranjan's private charity. his charities have been many though the general public know very little of them. he has a fine heart, which is ever ready to help a fellow in distress. we shall here cite an instance which though of a trifling nature compared with his public donations, yet goes a great way in indicating the natural bent of his mind. about five years back a poor boy who was a candidate for the matriculation examination was going from door to door collecting money for his fees. accidentally he came to the house of a near relation of chitta ranjan. this gentleman advised the boy to see chitta ranjan who would pay his fees for the mere asking. the boy acted accordingly. now chitta ranjan rises late from his bed in the morning and the boy being impatient asked a servant of the house if he could have an interview with chitta ranjan. the servant was not in a happy mood and accordingly to get rid of him answered him in the negative. the boy came back disappointed and reported the matter to the former gentleman who then advised him to go again and wait on the staircase without asking the favour of any servant till chitta ranjan[24] would come down and hear everything from him personally. it was easy for the boy to act up to this advice for no surly durwan ever blocks the door-way of chitta ranjan and the custom of presenting visiting cards is unknown in his house. the boy succeeded in getting an opportunity of telling his story to chitta ranjan. he at once ordered to give the boy the whole amount of his fees and also made an arrangement for his stay at calcutta till the examination was over. this is one of the many instances of chitta ranjan's private charity which have never been known to the public.

chitta ranjan possesses a very tender heart which ever feels pained at the suffering of others. as a devotee of sri krishna and sri gouranga sympathy for the poor and the distressed is naturally a part and parcel of his life. as we have already mentioned that he started an orphanage at purulia which was managed under the supervision of his sister and was a boon to the suffering humanity till she was snatched away by the cruel hands of death. he has spent a good deal in the upkeeping of many orphanages and is now the president of the bhowanipur orphanage which is managed by a band of self-less workers.

chitta ranjan is a great patron of learning. he has financially helped many litterateurs and has borne the expenses of publishing their works. for this act alone bengali literature will ever remain grateful to him. he also gave pecuniary assistance to many educational institutions; he was one of the special donors to the building fund of the belgachia medical college. he also financed to a great extent the literary conferences which were annually held for the cultivation of bengali literature. the other day he presented about 350 rare manuscripts of old bengali literature to the[25] bangiya sahitya parishad. in fact chitta ranjan has always been connected with almost all the literary activities of this country which owed much to his pecuniary assistance.

in concluding this chapter we should mention here that as a human being chitta ranjan had some frailties in his private life, some blemishes in his character; but an impartial review of his whole private life would justify the remark:—

"take him for all in all we shall not look upon his like again."