TAGORE AS A SHORT STORY WRITER:AN EVALUATION

R.N. TAGORE is an outstanding figure in the realm of short story genre. His multi-dimensional vision of life is discernable in his 61 short stories, telescoping man’s relationship with nature and social milieu. Endowed with boundless love for human beings, he emerged as a singer of the weal and woe of common life .
As a short story writer, Tagore was a practitioner of psychological and spiritual realism. What Tagore did was to record certain moments in the lives of the common people. CABULIWALLAH is study of peculiar bond of relationship between the people despite the vast hiatus of ages. Here love transcends social barrier and makes us sympathize with a poor cabuli fruit seller.
Tagore saw that while the privileged persons were enjoying in the cosy inn, others were “wallowing in the mud”. Tagore defied the class barrier between the haves and have- nots. He represented the ordinary mass who were neglected.
Tagore believed that man can upgrade morally and spiritually if he lives a life in close contact with nature. THE HIDDEN TREASURE is an apt illustration of that. Fatik, the protagonist of THE HOME COMIG ,is a child of naure. The delirious talk of the boy with his ultimate welcome of holiday is heart rendering.
Tagore hated the prevailing education system which cramped the personality of the children.Problems faced by the wards by their teachers is mirrored in HOUSEWIFE .In THE EXERCISE BOOK the agony of a child is presented. Tarapada is after his heart, a settled life is not for him.Balai clings to his flowers.
Hardships of Bengali women due to unhealthy customs is seen in many of his stories.In NUMBER ONE a woman suicides to get rid of biases.THE LIVING OR DEAD deals with the same thing.In PUNISHMENT a man kills his wife to save his brother.Extraction of dowry from marriage leads to the stoppage of marriage in THE UNKNOWN.In DEBITS AND CREDITS the evils are scathingly castigated.
Thus we see that Tagore sings the saga of the pathos of common life from the standpoint of a sympathetic humanist.He envisions a better future for mankind despite its present woes.His stories are universal and eternal in their appeal as Tagore himself feels excited “ If I do nothing but write stories, I am happy….my characters are with me when I am shut up in my room.”