The lost Jewels

Rabindranath Tagore has been a preeminent polymath of the 19^th century Bengal and was the first non-European Noble Prize winner. His stories bear the charm of gluing the reader to the very edge of their chairs and is never so mundane as the rising and setting of the sun.

Tagore's writing style include the usage of a lot of Hindi or so to say colloquial terms, for instance Ghat. His stories are in general set in rural India near a river bank, i.e. Ghat. He also has a tendency to glorify the lower middle class and the female characters of this stories.  Tagore was apprehensive of the modernization sweeping across the lengths and breadths of the nation then because of the British. It is quite apparent from the story - The Lost Jewels.

"Under the spell of modern civilization men has lost his god given power of his barbaric nature which has loosened the conjugal ties."

Lost Jewels, the title is suggestive of some loss of jewels that occur in the course of the story. Being a psycho-thriller the title instills in the reader a kind of thrill and brings the element of suspense. The loss as in the layman's language would refer to some material loss and jewels would awaken a symbol of wealth.

Well Bhushan Saha the heir of Durga Saha's property was an affluent gentlyman refined and polished in every aspect that one could imagine.

"But he was modern. He spoke faultless English and actually entered the sahib's offices with his shoes on. In addition to that he grew a bear."

Thus we see that the assumption of material abundance is apt.

"He called the physician at his home."

He had a wife, Mani. Mani was the most parsimonious lady that ever trod on earth! She was excessively obsessed with her jewelry. All that mattered to her was her wealth, neither her husband, nor her children for she had none save the jewelry! She didn't feed any religious mendicant and always saved every penny. The most striking attribute of Mani was that she seemed to have stuck at the age of 16.

"Not an atom of her youthful beauty was lost. Perhaps beauty is best preserved in a heart that is an ice-box."

Tagore's sardonic tone here is worth noting. Mani considered her husband nothing more than an ATM machine which would infallible serve her 24/7/365!

"She used to get her caresses and Decca Muslin Saaris and bangles without being able to pride herself over victory!"

So perfect was the love of Bhushan for Mani but ironically unrequited. Bhushan was a man of 'fine spun ideals.' To him, "to give was the way to get."

The only bloach on the part of Bhushan was his obsession for Mani. Impeccable in every moral sense but obsessed with Mani, who in turn was held in the shackles of Money, failed utterly in both business and in the personal life alike.

Bhushan once suffered a dip in his business and needed money to compensate for the loss. Even in such a plight the hostile Mani refused to lend her jewelry. Instead she fled to her father's place with her equally sloppy and malicious brother Modhu. Bhushan had then to secure a loan from Calcutta which he successfully did. But upon returning didn't find Mani. His evanescent rage withered against love and a mad ransacking in and around the town only led to the conclusion that Mani and Modhu might have drowned in the floods.

Thus we see that the entire inconsequential chronicle revolves about these two characters and jewelry. On the surface we see that the jewelry must have been at the abyss, and hence lost.

From a wider perspective, a man such as Bhushan is difficult to find even in the 21^st century. He simply lost all the bloom of his life, and was an utter failure. Thus the loss that he suffers on the emotional plane and the psychological trauma that he goes through is a greater loss.

On the other hand this story teaches us the importance of a balanced relation - that the frequency of the tuner and that which is broadcasted must match or there is crass cacophony! The meeting of incompatible characters in a loss for both Mani and Bhushan. Another theme touched upon is avarice. A material fool such as Mani at the end of her life went empty handed just as Alexandr did! She 'lost her jewels'! And lastly we see that only a well-balanced, inert mechanism can survive. Bhushan too was lopsided in being extremely pliable. Alloys are always enhanced versions of their constituent metals and similarly the mix of the sour and sweet and the balance of Yin and Yan is a must. The jewels were destined to be lost for none stood in the middle!