Is Tagore's Chokher Bali just a grain of sand or an irritant in the eye?

Happened to watch Stories by Rabindranath Tagore web series on Netflix. It is directed by Anurag Basu, Debatma Mandal and Tani Basu. The cast comprises Radhika Apte, Jannat Zubair Rahmani, Bhanu Uday, Tara Alisha Berry, Sumeet Vyas and Rohan Shah. The language is Hindi and subtitles in English are available.

What a soul-stirring, lovely experience, going by the very first story titled “Chokher Bali”(the literal meaning is "a grain of sand" or "an irritant in the eye"). I guess this is a long-standing practice of naming something that we hold dear to sound exactly the opposite. In this case, it is used to refer to the friendship between two young girls.

Incidentally, this was the first novella penned by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) and published in 1901.  At that time, the author was 30 years old, mature enough to handle a sensitive subject about the life of widows and child marriage without being judgemental in any manner.

Spoiler Alert: the following italicised passages reveal the story

The series opens one dark rainy night when one of the three main characters, Bihari babu finds that his car has broken down. He manages to get to the nearest railway station and finds a woman trying to light a lantern in the waiting room. When the matches do not work, she asks him for a light. He takes out his own set of matches and lights the lantern. In the dim light, he is startled to find that the woman is Binodini, with whom he has been in love for long without revealing it in words.

Binodini, on her part, is a young widow, who was at one time engaged to be married to Bihari’s (who incidentally, is adopted) brother Mahindra. However, Mahindra, the son of a rich zamindar, is doted upon by his widowed mother. Studying for his medical degree, he is unwilling to take up any marital responsibility and wriggles out of the alliance at the last minute. He and his mother try to persuade Bihari to marry Binodini to save the family name and honour.  He refuses and Binodini is married off to another cousin, who, unfortunately, passes away soon after.

That leaves Binodini, a convent-educated girl, well-read and with a flair for music, all alone as a white-clad young widow. Meanwhile, Mahen’s mother Rajeshwari comes on a brief visit to her ancestral home in Malda where Binodini looks after her. Bihari, who had accompanied Rajeshwari, sees Binodini and falls in love with her.

Meanwhile, Mahen, who had finally married Asha Lata, a pretty girl but uneducated (very few girls received education those days), writes to Bihari in graphic detail about his love life. Rajeshwari asks him to read out the letter and he skips over those parts. She then tells Binodini to read it out to her. Binodini reads aloud the letter but is asked to stop when it comes to the ahem, steamy romantic parts.

On her part, Binodini manages to read it in full and becomes jealous of the young bride. She persuades Rajeshwari to take her back to Siliguri and plots to seduce Mahen as an act of revenge. She strikes up a friendship with the naïve Asha and both the girls form a friendship group named “Chokher Bali” (meaning an irritant, like a grain of sand that got into the eye). These Bengalis are great ones for giving a nickname to everything and everyone.

Asha gets Mahen introduced to Binodini. Mahen soon falls head over heels in love with Binodini without Asha getting wind of it. She, in fact, tells her to take care of him while she goes home to her parents.

On return, she finds Mahen packing his bags and walking out on her. Meanwhile, Binodini is more interested in Bihari and goes to his lodgings only to be told that he has got a job and moved to Calcutta. At around this time, Mahen asks Binodini to come with him. She takes it as an opportunity to go in search of Bihari and agrees to move to Calcutta. There, she manages to locate the society where Bihari was working as a doctor but is told that he has gone to Varanasi.

She then tells Mahen to move to Varanasi. Once, in the holy city, she goes out every day after Mahen leaves for work in search of Bihari. She finally locates the place and is told he will be there in the evening. On return, she finds that Mahen had been following her and he walks out after accusing her of cheating.

All this story is revealed to each other at the railway station. Binodini is working for women’s welfare and Bihari is a doctor doing community service. Thinking that a young lady doctor whose marriage is being arranged with Bihari is more suitable for him, Vinodini once again walks out on him.

The cinematography is excellent. The rain sets the mood and the lovely locations in Siliguri including Mahen’s house and car add to the authenticity. Radhika is lovely as Binodini, conveying deep emotions through her eyes. Her attire is authentic as a widow.

About the widow’s plight, it comes through in conversations between Rajeshwari and her friend, both of them widows. When Mahen brings home the bride in a decorated horse carriage, both have to stay away lest the shadow of a widow falls on the bride. Bhanu Uday as Mahen and Sumeet Vyas as Bihari also perform well. Tara Alisha Berry as Ashalata looks a bit too glamorous and mature to pass off as a simple village girl.

The background music and songs are delightful. On the whole, an enjoyable experience. While Mahen is seen mostly wearing a suit, reflecting western sensibilities, Bihari prefers the traditional dhoti-kurta.