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The Postmaster
The Postmaster, an amazing short story was written in 1891 when Tagore was living in East Bengal, during the border of the river Padma, executing his family acreage. The two important characters- a young city-based postmaster and Ratan, an orphan girl have common ground in their loneliness. Considered one of his best stories—included in this selection—recreate vivid images of life and landscapes. They depict the human condition in its many forms: innocence and childhood; love and loss; the city and the village; the natural and the supernatural. Tagore is ’s great Romantic. These stories reflect his profoundly modern, original vision.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
45 people are currently reading
1052 people want to read
About the author
Rabindranath Tagore
2,473 books4,222 followersAwarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West."
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.
The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.
The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
May 17, 2022
Re-read:
The postmaster is brought to a far-flung village, where he finds himself lonesome and needs somebody to share his sentiments. He cannot stand the seclusion of village and longs for the noises of traffic and life in Calcutta. In the post office, he does not have much work to do and tries to placate his longing emotions by writing poetry.
Ratan is an orphan girl who yearns for love and warmth. She helps the postmaster by doing his household work, while he showed his concern by giving her language lessons. Their relationship grows in spite of their different social status.
Human relations know no barriers. When the postmaster resigns from his job, Ratan’s intimate feelings become evident. He fails to understand them. He takes refuge in the thought that there are many separations and many deaths in life. On the other hand, the poor girl is not in a position to reason. She sinks deep into false hope, which the author has described as a common human mistake.
The relationship between the postmaster and Ratan grows through the course of the story. It emerges from the need of both of them to have a companion. The postmaster comes to a remote village from the city. He does not have enough work to keep himself busy. He has no companion and longs for the noises and life in the city. Perhaps, it is his education and city background that keeps him away from the residents in the area.
His longing for a companion has been described by the author, when he says: He watched, and felt how it would be to have a close companion here, a human object for the heart’s most intimate affections. Gradually it seemed that the bird was saying precisely this, again and again; that in the afternoon shade and solitude the same meaning was in the rustle of the leaves………
One evening, the postmaster tells Ratan that he is going to teach her to read. She grows closer to him and sees him as her only relative.
She grows dependent on him. When the postmaster falls sick, Ratan takes care of him and he recovers, just taking her presence for granted. But, he then decides that he has to leave the village.
He consoles Ratan by saying that he would inform the new postmaster about her. He even offers her some money to keep. She refuses both and expresses that she doesn’t want to stay there any more.
Ratan has lived a life of isolation. Dada has been her lone companion, and the only one who seemed to comprehend her. She is disconsolate, when he has to leave without her. She longs for him to come back, “wandering about the post office with tears streaming from her eyes”.
The theme of contrast between city and rural life has been brought out well in the story. The postmaster has been born and brought up in Calcutta. But he has been posted in a humble village, called Ulapur. He finds it difficult to adjust himself to the life in the village. He is ill-at- ease in the village surroundings.
The village life has been vividly portrayed by the author when he says:
His office was in a dark thatched hut; there was a pond next to it, scummed over with weeds, and jungle all around. The indigo agents and employees had hardly any spare time, and were not suitable company for an educated man.
He further says: In the evenings, when smoke curled up from village cowsheds, crickets grated in the bushes, a band of intoxicated Baul singers in a far village sang raucously to drums and cymbals, and even a poet if seated alone on a dark verandah might have shuddered a little at the trembling leaves.
Tagore’s descriptive ability is seen at its best here. His description evokes the impression of the village in tune with the feeling of the postmaster. The postmaster is ill-at-ease with his work. His boredom and loneliness is projected through the description of the surroundings.
The images that he uses are suitable to bring out his emotions.
* The breeze was softly warm; there was a smell of sunshine on wet grass and leaves. Earth’s breath—hot with fatigue—seemed to brush against the skin.
*During the month of Shravan, the rain was continuous. Ditches, pits and channels filled to overflowing with water. The croaking of frogs and the patter of rain went on day and night.
The images are flamboyant but they evoke a dreary, mind-numbing picture. The birds’ cries are importunate and tedious. The incessant rain shuts the world out and a disheartening mood is created.
The narration follows a chronological order, producing the effect of watching a film. Also, we see metaphorical use of language and appropriate figures of speech:
• When he was on the boat, and it had set sail, when the swollen floodwaters of the river started to heave like the earth’s brimming tears, the postmaster felt a huge anguish.
• We cling with both acnes to false hope, refusing to believe e weightiest proofs against it, embracing it with all our strength.
One of the finest stories of human love and concern, revolving primarily around the theme of ‘longing and separation’, you could ever set your eyes upon.
The postmaster is brought to a far-flung village, where he finds himself lonesome and needs somebody to share his sentiments. He cannot stand the seclusion of village and longs for the noises of traffic and life in Calcutta. In the post office, he does not have much work to do and tries to placate his longing emotions by writing poetry.
Ratan is an orphan girl who yearns for love and warmth. She helps the postmaster by doing his household work, while he showed his concern by giving her language lessons. Their relationship grows in spite of their different social status.
Human relations know no barriers. When the postmaster resigns from his job, Ratan’s intimate feelings become evident. He fails to understand them. He takes refuge in the thought that there are many separations and many deaths in life. On the other hand, the poor girl is not in a position to reason. She sinks deep into false hope, which the author has described as a common human mistake.
The relationship between the postmaster and Ratan grows through the course of the story. It emerges from the need of both of them to have a companion. The postmaster comes to a remote village from the city. He does not have enough work to keep himself busy. He has no companion and longs for the noises and life in the city. Perhaps, it is his education and city background that keeps him away from the residents in the area.
His longing for a companion has been described by the author, when he says: He watched, and felt how it would be to have a close companion here, a human object for the heart’s most intimate affections. Gradually it seemed that the bird was saying precisely this, again and again; that in the afternoon shade and solitude the same meaning was in the rustle of the leaves………
One evening, the postmaster tells Ratan that he is going to teach her to read. She grows closer to him and sees him as her only relative.
She grows dependent on him. When the postmaster falls sick, Ratan takes care of him and he recovers, just taking her presence for granted. But, he then decides that he has to leave the village.
He consoles Ratan by saying that he would inform the new postmaster about her. He even offers her some money to keep. She refuses both and expresses that she doesn’t want to stay there any more.
Ratan has lived a life of isolation. Dada has been her lone companion, and the only one who seemed to comprehend her. She is disconsolate, when he has to leave without her. She longs for him to come back, “wandering about the post office with tears streaming from her eyes”.
The theme of contrast between city and rural life has been brought out well in the story. The postmaster has been born and brought up in Calcutta. But he has been posted in a humble village, called Ulapur. He finds it difficult to adjust himself to the life in the village. He is ill-at- ease in the village surroundings.
The village life has been vividly portrayed by the author when he says:
His office was in a dark thatched hut; there was a pond next to it, scummed over with weeds, and jungle all around. The indigo agents and employees had hardly any spare time, and were not suitable company for an educated man.
He further says: In the evenings, when smoke curled up from village cowsheds, crickets grated in the bushes, a band of intoxicated Baul singers in a far village sang raucously to drums and cymbals, and even a poet if seated alone on a dark verandah might have shuddered a little at the trembling leaves.
Tagore’s descriptive ability is seen at its best here. His description evokes the impression of the village in tune with the feeling of the postmaster. The postmaster is ill-at-ease with his work. His boredom and loneliness is projected through the description of the surroundings.
The images that he uses are suitable to bring out his emotions.
* The breeze was softly warm; there was a smell of sunshine on wet grass and leaves. Earth’s breath—hot with fatigue—seemed to brush against the skin.
*During the month of Shravan, the rain was continuous. Ditches, pits and channels filled to overflowing with water. The croaking of frogs and the patter of rain went on day and night.
The images are flamboyant but they evoke a dreary, mind-numbing picture. The birds’ cries are importunate and tedious. The incessant rain shuts the world out and a disheartening mood is created.
The narration follows a chronological order, producing the effect of watching a film. Also, we see metaphorical use of language and appropriate figures of speech:
• When he was on the boat, and it had set sail, when the swollen floodwaters of the river started to heave like the earth’s brimming tears, the postmaster felt a huge anguish.
• We cling with both acnes to false hope, refusing to believe e weightiest proofs against it, embracing it with all our strength.
One of the finest stories of human love and concern, revolving primarily around the theme of ‘longing and separation’, you could ever set your eyes upon.
April 9, 2018
Nobel Prize for a reason.
October 24, 2018
I read the first thirteen stories and the Introduction.
I was a little disappointed with the writing, a bit flat and the style is best suited to reading a single story now and then, not as a book. Each story is short, so not easy to recall later. I'll come back to the book.
I was a little disappointed with the writing, a bit flat and the style is best suited to reading a single story now and then, not as a book. Each story is short, so not easy to recall later. I'll come back to the book.
April 26, 2016
There is so much pain and despair.
June 12, 2021
Words
Feelings
And
The pain
.
The hope
And the losing of hope
.
That's what this short story is all about ..
And
The translation is Really good
Feelings
And
The pain
.
The hope
And the losing of hope
.
That's what this short story is all about ..
And
The translation is Really good
April 14, 2021
Class, gender, inequality - oh how they divide!
Soulful narration and carefully etched characters. Loved it.
Detailed review coming soon.
Soulful narration and carefully etched characters. Loved it.
Detailed review coming soon.
July 2, 2017
The short story "The Postmaster" by Rabindranath Tagore describes how a post worker (postmaster) received a job in a remote village. He felt lonely and probably for this reason he started teaching an orphan girl (Ratan) to read. At the time when the postmaster retired and had to come back home, the thought that he was leaving without her shocked Ratan. Describing the feeling of sympathy of the main character, the postmaster, Tagore made a conclusion:
"After that comes the misery of awakening, and then once again the longing to get back into the maze of the same mistakes."
Rabindranath Tagore's work includes a lot of poetic descriptions and generalizations. One interesting thing is his exploration of relationships between people, of the mechanic of emotional ties. He accomplished it in a very bright, colorful, poetic form, which includes the following parts:
The beauty of Nature:
"... the movement of the leaves and the clouds of the sky were enough to fill life with joy—such were the sentiments to which he sought to give expression."
The feeling of loneliness:
"When in the evening the smoke began to curl up from the village cowsheds, and the cicadas chirped in every bush; when the mendicants of the Baül sect sang their shrill songs in their daily meeting-place, when any poet, who had attempted to watch the movement of the leaves in the dense bamboo thickets, would have felt a ghostly shiver run down his back, the postmaster would light his little lamp, and call out "Ratan."
Readers would imagine the background where the story took place.
Memories:
We can notice that here and further the author uses the grammatical constructions with the words "would" and “used to” which expresses the feeling of nostalgia, maybe even regret that it remained in the past and will never happen again, for example, this one: "He used to come home in the evening after his work".
The theme of recollection is the clue in this part of the story: "Ratan would sit on the floor near the postmaster's feet, as memories crowded in upon her". The postmaster wouldn't tell other people about his family because he felt that he was lonely in that village, he would tell it only to this little girl. "... the girl would allude to his people as mother, brother, and sister, as if she had known them all her life. In fact, she had a complete picture of each one of them painted in her little heart."
Connection between the nature and feeling of loneliness:
Rabindranath Tagore explained this idea in these lines:
"the postmaster was ... thinking to himself: "Oh, if only some kindred soul were near—just one loving human being whom I could hold near my heart!" This was exactly, he went on to think, what that bird was trying to say, and it was the same feeling which the murmuring leaves were striving to express."
Actions:
The decision to teach the girl alphabet is a next important step in building emotional ties between two people: "I was thinking," said the postmaster, "of teaching you to read."
The illness of the postmaster and helping the little girl meant a lot for each of them.
"Ratan ceased to be a little girl. She at once stepped into the post of mother, called in the village doctor, gave the patient his pills at the proper intervals, sat up all night by his pillow, cooked his gruel for him, and every now and then asked: "Are you feeling a little better, Dada?"
Climax:
The postmaster decided to leave this place forever and return home. "... the girl suddenly asked him: "Dada, will you take me to your home?". The postmaster laughed. "What an idea!" said he; but he did not think it necessary to explain to the girl wherein lay the absurdity. That whole night, in her waking and in her dreams, the postmaster's laughing reply haunted her—"What an idea!"
The reader of the story can observe the actions from different perspectives than the protagonists. The postmaster suggestion of giving all his money offended the girl.
He left the village alone and the author concluded:
"After that comes the misery of awakening, and then once again the longing to get back into the maze of the same mistakes."
That's all. The story is impressive and well-written such as many other things which Rabindranath Tagore did.
Here are the links to the text and audio of this short story:
The Postmaster by Rabindranath Tagore
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/33525...
Page 69
https://www.theguardian.com/books/aud...
"After that comes the misery of awakening, and then once again the longing to get back into the maze of the same mistakes."
Rabindranath Tagore's work includes a lot of poetic descriptions and generalizations. One interesting thing is his exploration of relationships between people, of the mechanic of emotional ties. He accomplished it in a very bright, colorful, poetic form, which includes the following parts:
The beauty of Nature:
"... the movement of the leaves and the clouds of the sky were enough to fill life with joy—such were the sentiments to which he sought to give expression."
The feeling of loneliness:
"When in the evening the smoke began to curl up from the village cowsheds, and the cicadas chirped in every bush; when the mendicants of the Baül sect sang their shrill songs in their daily meeting-place, when any poet, who had attempted to watch the movement of the leaves in the dense bamboo thickets, would have felt a ghostly shiver run down his back, the postmaster would light his little lamp, and call out "Ratan."
Readers would imagine the background where the story took place.
Memories:
We can notice that here and further the author uses the grammatical constructions with the words "would" and “used to” which expresses the feeling of nostalgia, maybe even regret that it remained in the past and will never happen again, for example, this one: "He used to come home in the evening after his work".
The theme of recollection is the clue in this part of the story: "Ratan would sit on the floor near the postmaster's feet, as memories crowded in upon her". The postmaster wouldn't tell other people about his family because he felt that he was lonely in that village, he would tell it only to this little girl. "... the girl would allude to his people as mother, brother, and sister, as if she had known them all her life. In fact, she had a complete picture of each one of them painted in her little heart."
Connection between the nature and feeling of loneliness:
Rabindranath Tagore explained this idea in these lines:
"the postmaster was ... thinking to himself: "Oh, if only some kindred soul were near—just one loving human being whom I could hold near my heart!" This was exactly, he went on to think, what that bird was trying to say, and it was the same feeling which the murmuring leaves were striving to express."
Actions:
The decision to teach the girl alphabet is a next important step in building emotional ties between two people: "I was thinking," said the postmaster, "of teaching you to read."
The illness of the postmaster and helping the little girl meant a lot for each of them.
"Ratan ceased to be a little girl. She at once stepped into the post of mother, called in the village doctor, gave the patient his pills at the proper intervals, sat up all night by his pillow, cooked his gruel for him, and every now and then asked: "Are you feeling a little better, Dada?"
Climax:
The postmaster decided to leave this place forever and return home. "... the girl suddenly asked him: "Dada, will you take me to your home?". The postmaster laughed. "What an idea!" said he; but he did not think it necessary to explain to the girl wherein lay the absurdity. That whole night, in her waking and in her dreams, the postmaster's laughing reply haunted her—"What an idea!"
The reader of the story can observe the actions from different perspectives than the protagonists. The postmaster suggestion of giving all his money offended the girl.
He left the village alone and the author concluded:
"After that comes the misery of awakening, and then once again the longing to get back into the maze of the same mistakes."
That's all. The story is impressive and well-written such as many other things which Rabindranath Tagore did.
Here are the links to the text and audio of this short story:
The Postmaster by Rabindranath Tagore
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/33525...
Page 69
https://www.theguardian.com/books/aud...
May 28, 2024
A near perfect short story capturing rural Bengal , it's damp heat and the simple interaction of two people.
June 5, 2025
One clings desperately to some vain hope, till a day comes when it has sucked the heart dry and then it breaks through its bonds and departs. After that comes the misery of awakening, and then once again the longing to get back into the maze of the same mistakes.
My eyes get welled up whenever I read this one.
Ratan deserves much better.
My eyes get welled up whenever I read this one.
Ratan deserves much better.
August 25, 2013
Tagore was cheesy sometimes, but he wrote with a simple beauty and kindness, telling very human stories. Sometimes, you really do feel like you are in 19th century Bengal.
A couple of supernatural tales here and there didn't do much for me, and some stories ended abruptly. But there is a beauty to his work that transcended the problems with these elements of his writing. A collection to be read at leisure, to be savoured in big gulps, and not tiny sips (as I was forced to, because of my schedule)
There is also an appendix of Tagore's letters, which really don't add much value to the book.
A couple of supernatural tales here and there didn't do much for me, and some stories ended abruptly. But there is a beauty to his work that transcended the problems with these elements of his writing. A collection to be read at leisure, to be savoured in big gulps, and not tiny sips (as I was forced to, because of my schedule)
There is also an appendix of Tagore's letters, which really don't add much value to the book.
September 16, 2013
Written in 1891, when he was shooed away by his land lord daddy to take care of some of his estates at the North of Bengal, Tagore while swaying over the waves of the Bengal rivers and canals wrote this short story in his recluse. Tagore's sensitivity to human suffering, particularly the plight of a young girl's heart is the strongest element in the story. Perhaps, the nineteenth century is not such a far off era and the echoes of such tales can still be heard in many insignificant villages of India-Pak-Bangladesh. If anything, Tagore patronizes the right of education for women and just as surprisingly shows men in his stories tossing those rights away carelessly.
July 4, 2015
This book picks up the finest details of human behaviour and amplifies them with use of detailed, visionary literature, within perfectly thought-of stories. The images Rabindranath Tagore creates are at times so intense, you could tear up at any vulnerability. It's a fulfilling ride through twentieth century Calcutta life, and uncovers all of how people feel and behave across their everyday social affairs.
July 2, 2016
Tagore has an incredible gift for description even in the simplest of stories and a surprising ability to convey the pathos of his more evocative stories. Would have been a five but for the poor translation.
April 17, 2016
Totally brilliant !
May 26, 2016
The world is at your doorstep
November 25, 2023
When I first read this story by Rabindranath Tagore (translated into English, available as a part of the Gutenberg Project), I was left wondering what the story was really about. At the surface its a simple story of human relationships. But as you read it again and parse through the poetically written verse, it starts to dawn on you as to how many nuanced layer the author has managed to weave into the deceptively simple story.
Narrated through the protagonists — the postmaster and the orphan girl — the premise subtly brings out the dichotomy between the rural and the urban, the abandoned and the cared for, the poor and the privileged, the educated and the illiterate. Without saying anything explicitly, Tagore masterfully manages to contrast these worlds. Here is an excerpt that verbalizes the angst the boy from Calcutta feels in the village of Ulapur.
God knows that the poor fellow would have felt it as the gift of a new life, if some genie of the Arabian Nights had in one night swept away the trees, leaves and all, and replaced them with a macadamised road, hiding the clouds from view with rows of tall houses.
And he does not stop there… Tagore unpeels this disquiet further as he explores the differences between how simply Ratan lets herself be vulnerable emotionally, while the postmaster finds it hard to lose control of the perfect blueprint of his life. He juxtaposes the deep longing to belong, to have a family, that the orphaned Ratan feels as against the way the postmaster tries to transactionalise his bond with the little girl, craving to fall back into a structure he understands, unwilling to explore the unexpected kinship that he feels for Ratan. While the orphan keeps clutching to her new-found connection with the man he calls Dada, the postmaster keeps retreating, labeling the possibility of more as absurd, denying what he knows he feels too — a pull at his heartstrings.
The smell of the damp grass and leaves in the hot sun felt like the warm breathing of the tired earth on one’s body. A persistent bird went on all afternoon repeating the burden of its one complaint in the audience chamber of Mother Nature. The postmaster had nothing to do. The shimmer of the freshly washed leaves, and the banked-up remnants of the retreating rain-clouds were sights to see. And the postmaster was watching them and thinking to himself: “Oh, if only some kindred soul were near — just one loving human being whom I could hold near my heart!” This was exactly, he went on to think, what that bird was trying to say, and it was the same feeling which the murmuring leaves were striving to express. But no one knows, or would believe, that such an idea might also take possession of an ill-paid village postmaster in the deep, silent mid-day interval of his work.
He stays in denial, pulling himself away from Ratan and from the village he never was able to bring himself to calling his new home. A creature of habit, he keeps pining for his mother and his sister, the buildings and the roads, unaware that Ratan has become like one if his own, a family he did not seek yet that found him. The end is unexpected, the tears inevitable, for the postmaster finds doing the right thing inconvenient. He departs, leaving behind a trail of broken dreams and shattered hopes. And a pining heart that refuses to give up. The poetic, introspective conclusion to the story made be sit back and think. And think I did…
Alas for our foolish human nature! Its fond mistakes are persistent. The dictates of reason take a long time to assert their own sway. The surest proofs meanwhile are disbelieved. False hope is clung to with all one’s might, till a day comes when it has sucked the heart dry and it forcibly breaks through its bonds and departs. After that comes the misery of awakening, and then once again the longing to get back into the maze of the same mistakes.
I am in awe of how well this story is written, how relevant it is even today, decades after it was published. I am mesmerized by the writing style and taken aback by the candor of emotions. Rabindranath Tagore is truly a legend of Indian literature.
Reference: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
Narrated through the protagonists — the postmaster and the orphan girl — the premise subtly brings out the dichotomy between the rural and the urban, the abandoned and the cared for, the poor and the privileged, the educated and the illiterate. Without saying anything explicitly, Tagore masterfully manages to contrast these worlds. Here is an excerpt that verbalizes the angst the boy from Calcutta feels in the village of Ulapur.
God knows that the poor fellow would have felt it as the gift of a new life, if some genie of the Arabian Nights had in one night swept away the trees, leaves and all, and replaced them with a macadamised road, hiding the clouds from view with rows of tall houses.
And he does not stop there… Tagore unpeels this disquiet further as he explores the differences between how simply Ratan lets herself be vulnerable emotionally, while the postmaster finds it hard to lose control of the perfect blueprint of his life. He juxtaposes the deep longing to belong, to have a family, that the orphaned Ratan feels as against the way the postmaster tries to transactionalise his bond with the little girl, craving to fall back into a structure he understands, unwilling to explore the unexpected kinship that he feels for Ratan. While the orphan keeps clutching to her new-found connection with the man he calls Dada, the postmaster keeps retreating, labeling the possibility of more as absurd, denying what he knows he feels too — a pull at his heartstrings.
The smell of the damp grass and leaves in the hot sun felt like the warm breathing of the tired earth on one’s body. A persistent bird went on all afternoon repeating the burden of its one complaint in the audience chamber of Mother Nature. The postmaster had nothing to do. The shimmer of the freshly washed leaves, and the banked-up remnants of the retreating rain-clouds were sights to see. And the postmaster was watching them and thinking to himself: “Oh, if only some kindred soul were near — just one loving human being whom I could hold near my heart!” This was exactly, he went on to think, what that bird was trying to say, and it was the same feeling which the murmuring leaves were striving to express. But no one knows, or would believe, that such an idea might also take possession of an ill-paid village postmaster in the deep, silent mid-day interval of his work.
He stays in denial, pulling himself away from Ratan and from the village he never was able to bring himself to calling his new home. A creature of habit, he keeps pining for his mother and his sister, the buildings and the roads, unaware that Ratan has become like one if his own, a family he did not seek yet that found him. The end is unexpected, the tears inevitable, for the postmaster finds doing the right thing inconvenient. He departs, leaving behind a trail of broken dreams and shattered hopes. And a pining heart that refuses to give up. The poetic, introspective conclusion to the story made be sit back and think. And think I did…
Alas for our foolish human nature! Its fond mistakes are persistent. The dictates of reason take a long time to assert their own sway. The surest proofs meanwhile are disbelieved. False hope is clung to with all one’s might, till a day comes when it has sucked the heart dry and it forcibly breaks through its bonds and departs. After that comes the misery of awakening, and then once again the longing to get back into the maze of the same mistakes.
I am in awe of how well this story is written, how relevant it is even today, decades after it was published. I am mesmerized by the writing style and taken aback by the candor of emotions. Rabindranath Tagore is truly a legend of Indian literature.
Reference: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...
May 10, 2020
“The Postmaster,” a story by Rabindranath Tagore, concerns an unnamed postmaster who is assigned to a remote post office in a small rural Indian village. The village is near a factory, and the owner of the factory, who is English, manages to have the post office created. The narrator of the story seems to be a resident of the village, since the narrator refers to “our postmaster.” The postmaster is from the huge city of Calcutta and feels out of place in such a distant rural village. The post office seems to contain only two rooms: the office itself, and the postmaster’s living quarters. These are located in a “thatched shed” near a stagnant pond circled by thick foliage.
The workers in the nearby factory work so much that they have no time to befriend anyone. Besides, they are not especially good company for “decent folk.” In addition, people from Calcutta are not particularly good at socializing. They can appear to be arrogant or uncomfortable. In any case, the postmaster has few companions, and he does not have many activities to keep him occupied.
Occasionally he tries to write a bit of poetry. The rural landscape might have inspired the kind of happy poetry he sought to compose. But the postmaster is uninterested in the landscape and would be happy if it were replaced by a paved road and numerous tall buildings. His wages are not great; he must do his own cooking, but he shares his suppers with “Ratan, an orphan girl of the village, who did odd jobs for him.” In the evening, when the village is filled with appealing sights and sounds—the kind that would inspire poets—the postmaster lights his lamp and calls for Ratan.
Ratan, who has been waiting for the nightly call, typically asks whether she has indeed been called. She then routinely lights the fire needed for cooking. The postmaster, however, typically tells her to wait a while and let him smoke his pipe, which Ratan then always lights for him. After this nightly ritual has been completed, the postmaster usually talks with Ratan. He asks her whether she remembers her parents, discovering that she has fonder memories of her father than of her mother. She can even recall a little brother, with whom she would playfully fish. Often her conversations with the postmaster last a long time—so long that the postmaster doesn’t cook and Ratan instead prepares a very hasty light meal.
Sometimes in the evenings, the postmaster himself recalls his home, his mother and sister, and others whom he misses. He cannot share these thoughts with the local workers, but he feels comfortable discussing them with the innocent young girl. Eventually Ratan begins speaking of the members of the postmaster’s family as if they are members of her own and as if she has long known them. In her heart, she can vividly imagine how each of them looks.
One noon, when the rains have stopped, the wind blows gently and the smell of the lush vegetation beneath the blazing sun feels like the earth breathing on one’s skin. A bird, dedicated to singing the same song over and over, unburdens itself to Nature. The postmaster, however, is idle. He looks at the vegetation and at the increasingly distant rain-clouds and wishes that there were someone—anyone—nearby with whom he had something in common, someone with whom he could share a mutual love. This same thought, he imagines, is precisely what the bird is trying to utter. It is also what the surrounding leaves are attempting to say. Yet no one realizes, or would find it credible, that a thought of this kind might overcome a poorly-paid postmaster during a noontime break from his duties.
The postmaster summons Ratan, who has been lying beneath a guava-tree, determinedly eating immature guavas. Ratan quickly responds to the summons, asking the postmaster, whom she now calls “Dada,” if he has been calling for her. He replies by saying that he has been considering the possibility of teaching her how to read.
The workers in the nearby factory work so much that they have no time to befriend anyone. Besides, they are not especially good company for “decent folk.” In addition, people from Calcutta are not particularly good at socializing. They can appear to be arrogant or uncomfortable. In any case, the postmaster has few companions, and he does not have many activities to keep him occupied.
Occasionally he tries to write a bit of poetry. The rural landscape might have inspired the kind of happy poetry he sought to compose. But the postmaster is uninterested in the landscape and would be happy if it were replaced by a paved road and numerous tall buildings. His wages are not great; he must do his own cooking, but he shares his suppers with “Ratan, an orphan girl of the village, who did odd jobs for him.” In the evening, when the village is filled with appealing sights and sounds—the kind that would inspire poets—the postmaster lights his lamp and calls for Ratan.
Ratan, who has been waiting for the nightly call, typically asks whether she has indeed been called. She then routinely lights the fire needed for cooking. The postmaster, however, typically tells her to wait a while and let him smoke his pipe, which Ratan then always lights for him. After this nightly ritual has been completed, the postmaster usually talks with Ratan. He asks her whether she remembers her parents, discovering that she has fonder memories of her father than of her mother. She can even recall a little brother, with whom she would playfully fish. Often her conversations with the postmaster last a long time—so long that the postmaster doesn’t cook and Ratan instead prepares a very hasty light meal.
Sometimes in the evenings, the postmaster himself recalls his home, his mother and sister, and others whom he misses. He cannot share these thoughts with the local workers, but he feels comfortable discussing them with the innocent young girl. Eventually Ratan begins speaking of the members of the postmaster’s family as if they are members of her own and as if she has long known them. In her heart, she can vividly imagine how each of them looks.
One noon, when the rains have stopped, the wind blows gently and the smell of the lush vegetation beneath the blazing sun feels like the earth breathing on one’s skin. A bird, dedicated to singing the same song over and over, unburdens itself to Nature. The postmaster, however, is idle. He looks at the vegetation and at the increasingly distant rain-clouds and wishes that there were someone—anyone—nearby with whom he had something in common, someone with whom he could share a mutual love. This same thought, he imagines, is precisely what the bird is trying to utter. It is also what the surrounding leaves are attempting to say. Yet no one realizes, or would find it credible, that a thought of this kind might overcome a poorly-paid postmaster during a noontime break from his duties.
The postmaster summons Ratan, who has been lying beneath a guava-tree, determinedly eating immature guavas. Ratan quickly responds to the summons, asking the postmaster, whom she now calls “Dada,” if he has been calling for her. He replies by saying that he has been considering the possibility of teaching her how to read.
July 14, 2025
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TIL that the final passage describes Ratan's ordeal and her life situation after her Dadababu has left her. When I first read it as a young girl I was really enchanted by that final passage, that taciturn and beautiful description about the nature of life really excited the angsty child who wanted to learn and see more of the world. It was beautiful.
But today, I read a different translation and learned that Ratan is left with those feelings in her life now and they are not just the writer's broad observation on life.
I also realised that Dadababu, an educated, worldly and experienced man sees the nature of what he and Ratan have lost as something that's dead, something realistic and practical (I hate that word) that helps him move through the world. Meanwhile Ratan is left with feelings of intense longing and a deceitful hope that her Dadababu would return. It's beautiful and lifelike, I love it.
"Logic and reason are slow to penetrate" in the novice mind of Ratan.
TIL that the final passage describes Ratan's ordeal and her life situation after her Dadababu has left her. When I first read it as a young girl I was really enchanted by that final passage, that taciturn and beautiful description about the nature of life really excited the angsty child who wanted to learn and see more of the world. It was beautiful.
But today, I read a different translation and learned that Ratan is left with those feelings in her life now and they are not just the writer's broad observation on life.
I also realised that Dadababu, an educated, worldly and experienced man sees the nature of what he and Ratan have lost as something that's dead, something realistic and practical (I hate that word) that helps him move through the world. Meanwhile Ratan is left with feelings of intense longing and a deceitful hope that her Dadababu would return. It's beautiful and lifelike, I love it.
"Logic and reason are slow to penetrate" in the novice mind of Ratan.
August 13, 2020
The book is rich with tradition, culture and literature, it is stirred with a lot of emotions- love, pain, humanity, deception, loss, yearns everything so beautifully being portrayed. There's an essence of Indian-ness in each story which is also focused on human nature. It reflects the contemporary life in rural and urban Bengal , it's people, customs, social structure, and the relationships in those times.
The stories are written with beauty and kindness. Tagore picked up the finest detail and elaborated it in away that it which is so intense and fulfilling.
The stories are so well written and impressive as such it leaves you with a lot of emotions.
The stories are written with beauty and kindness. Tagore picked up the finest detail and elaborated it in away that it which is so intense and fulfilling.
The stories are so well written and impressive as such it leaves you with a lot of emotions.
June 18, 2022
What a book it is. I've never read this book, but this is book has always been my favourite one. It describes about the human nature. The pain, love, humanity, deception, loss, earns everything is clearly described by the great writer SIR RABINDRANATH TAGORE JI. I'm so glad to have such an intuitive, brilliant, sharp-minded, intelligent, creative, imaginary Indian artist in our India. He was my idol and I want to and I will become like him, although I don't like reading books at all, and I'm not at all interested in writing stories but still I want to and I will become like him.
THANK YOU
AND
HAVE A NICE DAY
THANK YOU
AND
HAVE A NICE DAY
April 11, 2024
Alas for our foolish human nature! Its fond mistakes are persistent. The dictates of reason take a long time to assert their own sway. The surest proofs meanwhile are disbelieved. False hope is clung to with all one’s might and main, till a day comes when it has sucked the heart dry and it forcibly breaks through its bonds and departs. After that comes the misery of awakening, and then once again the longing to get back into the maze of the same mistakes.
July 21, 2024
Beautiful collection of his short stories. Each has its own whimsical, slightly surreal nature, but woven together with human emotion always. Favourites: The Postmaster, Kabulliwalah, The Littel master's return
April 10, 2018
Absolutely mesmerizing short stories by the great Tagore. Most of the stories have a really sad and gloomy ending but are a fantastic read.
September 26, 2018
The raw emotions expressed in the last paragraph haunts me whenever I think of it.
July 13, 2019
It is so beautiful. The portrayal of life, it's beauties and vagaries. It is sure to drown you into the seas of feelings that the characters go through.
December 5, 2021
Oh how easy it is to get attached to someone and how hard to come out of it. Hope, desire, attachment and despair are all the stages of same process which repeats over and over for everyone.
July 1, 2023
Lovely and sad.
September 8, 2023
Oh oh oh..
It's..
This story.. was..
(I just dumbfounded)
simple and touching...
It's..
This story.. was..
(I just dumbfounded)
simple and touching...
October 22, 2023
Had it in my High School syllabus.
Re-read this... Still gripping, still close to my heart!
Re-read this... Still gripping, still close to my heart!
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