WRITE NOW • TAGORE • “WE CROWN THEE KING”

1 Question 1 • “We Crown Three King” is a short story from the 1916 collection The Hungry Stones by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore (pictured right). Tagore was the first non-Westerner to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1913). “We Crown Thee King” engages directly with the British Raj, the name given to the British colonial regime in India (South Asia), which emerged after the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. When reading the tale, it is important to know that the expressions “Anglo- Indians” and “Anglo-Indian society” (page 217) refer to the English colonists in India. The central protagonist is a native Bengali named Nabendu Sekhar, who faces a dilemma of loyalty. He must choose between the pro-British politics of his deceased father, Purnendu Sekhar, and the Bengali-independence politics of his wife, Arunlekha and her siblings. The first of those siblings to feature in the tale is Arunlekha’s brother, Pramathanath. By such actions as uttering many salaams (peace greetings) to “the English officials of the [colonial] Government” (page 215), Nebendu’s late father had effectively endorsed the Raj. By contrast, Pramathanath “desire[s] to keep away from Englishmen” (page 216), a feeling that is entirely mutual. Pramathanath did not always feel ill-disposed towards the British. How many years did he “[sojourn] in England” (page 216), and how was his experience there? How did he dress immediately upon returning to Bengal, his native region of India?

Bengal (red) is the region of South Asia where the Ganges river system makes its delta and flows into the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean. Its largest city, Calcutta (Kolkata) was the capital of the East India Company and then the Raj. However, in 1911, the British moved the Raj’s capital west to New Delhi because of anti-imperial independence and revolutionary activity in Calcutta and Bengal. In “We Crown Thee King,” Nabendu’s wife’s family associates itself with such activity, especially the political movement called the Congress Party.

Question 2 • Already this semester, we have examined the impact of railways. They are a symptom and symbol of modernity in Trollope’s “The Telegraph Girl.” Like its predecessor, the East India Company, the British Raj prided itself on facilitating railway construction. Tagore would have been especially familiar

2 with the East Indian Railway Company, founded in 1845. During “the opening of a new railway line” (page 217), what happens to turn Pramathanath against the British? Immediately after that event, what is the purpose of the “big bonfire” (page 219) that Pramathanath constructs, and how do members of his household participate in the happening?

Question 3 • Describe the nature and purpose of the shrine that Nabendu’s sisters-in-law construct “on the mantel-shelf of [his] bedroom” (page 220). What does one of the women embroider in red onto a chadar (also spelled chador)—the scarf-like, multipurpose garment worn by many Indians? What is one statement or observation in the text, prior to page 222, suggestive of an erotic dimension to the relationship that Nabendu has with one or more of his “well educated and handsome” (page 219) sisters- in-law?

Question 4 • Use and cite a reliable source to explain why—when attempting to avoid criticism from his sisters-in-law— Nabendu tells a lie about “going to listen to a speech by Mr. Surendranath Banerjee” (page 221). (In other words, find out about Surendranath Banerjee’s role in limiting or undermining British control in India.) In the paragraph about Banerjee, we see the term Sahib, which means “proprietor” or “owner.” Be aware that it was a term of respect for a European man in colonial India. Thus, “Burra Sahib” (page 221) means “big boss.”

Question 5 • The term “Birthday honors” (page 222) refers to the list of preferments and promotions issued each year on the British monarch’s birthday. News leaks out that Nabendu is under consideration to be made a Rai Bahadur, a title— accompanied by a medal (pictured on the left)—awarded to Indian Hindus and Christians seen as having given exceptional service to the Raj. The first word in the term may be translated as prince, while the second means most honorable. Were he to accept this imperial plaudit, Nabendu would be entitled to use the initials R.B. after his name. He finds the idea attractive, not least because his late father long strived to obtain R.B. status and probably would have, had he lived longer. Nabendu’s wife (Arunlekha) reacts in negative terms, primarily because she dislikes another R.B. Seeking help, she consults her eldest sister Labanya (aka Labanyalekha), who is married to an Indian lawyer or “pleader” (page 222) and lives in the town of Buxar on the banks of the River Ganges. The older woman agrees to try to reverse Nabendu’s pro-British sentiments. Using your own words, write at least two sentences to describe how Nabendu’s relationship with Labanya develops during his stay chez elle (i.e. at her house in Buxar). These sentences should deal with cooking, card-playing, and the example of Labanya’s husband.

Question 6 • As the tale progresses, Nabendu becomes caught between the English governing elite and the Indian nationalist block, known as the Congress Party (founded in 1885), which his wife’s family ardently supports. Congress sought Swaraj, an Indian version of Irish Home Rule or constitutional nationalism, which we discussed when reading Joyce’s “The Dead.” When beginning to move towards the native side, Nabendu is not too anxious about alienating the English, for he has “laid out” (page 225) a leisure facility that benefits Europeans in India. What is that facility? He is also conscious of the positive reputation that his father Purnendu built among the Anglo-Indians (page 229). Things become more complicated when the Congress Party requests that Nabendu make a financial donation and sign “a subscription book” (page 226). In two complete sentences, explain how his decision to give money plays out in two newspaper letters: the first signed with an X (page 227); the second signed by “One who knows” (page 228). In a third complete sentence, clarify whether Nabendu writes, without help, a letter to contradict the assertions of “One who knows.”

3 Question 7 • When rubbing himself with body oil one morning (during his stay at Labanya’s), Nabendu becomes convinced that the District Magistrate or Magistrate Sahib (page 231) has paid him a visit out of the blue. As he cannot complete his toilette quickly enough to greet the unexpected guest, he decides to make an unscheduled courtesy call the “next morning” (page 232) at the Magistrate’s home. What must Nabendu—the Babu or son of Purnendu—do in order to get past the “orderly peon” (page 233) or lowly servant who guards the Magistrate’s gate? How does the Magistrate react to Nabendu’s attempt to apologize?

Question 8 • Nabendu’s lie about “purchasing rose-water” backfires when six chuprassis or government messengers arrive to pressure him for “Bakshish” (page 234)—a tip or bribe. They feel that the payment is their right because Nabendu has gotten involved with the state apparatus, of which they are part. Labanya’s husband intervenes. He refuses to let the embarrassed, confused Nabendu pay the men, which causes them to appear like versions of the angry manifestation of the Hindu god Siva. Subsequently, during the annual meeting of the Congress Party, Nabendu finds himself not vilified, but instead “cheered…honored…and extolled” (page 236). The unidentified narrator seems incredulous at this outcome, saying, “Our Motherland [India] reddened with shame to the root of her ears” (page 236). Clearly, the story reflects the messiness and contradictions of politics in the India of Tagore’s time. When the narrator imagines Nabendu’s future, does he feel that any possibility remains of his becoming an R.B. (Rai Bahadur)? After his death, what will the pro-English newspapers, the Englishman and the Pioneer, say about him?

Question 9 • A problem in many university literature classes is some students’ failure to understand words and other references in an assigned text. The professor has a share of responsibility to elucidate these matters, and homework exercises like this one can be helpful. While completing this set of questions, you have developed awareness of such important phenomena as Rai Bahadur. However, the student must accept accountability, too. Using and citing reliable sources, explain the following three underlined words: (a) “Mrs. Nabendu betook herself to her sister’s house in a palanquin” (page 222); (b) “To Nabendu’s enchanted eyes she [Labanya] appeared like a malati plant” (page 223); (c) “He [Nabendu] shook and twitched like a koi-fish” (page 231).

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