Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III.
ADVENT TO CALCUTTA.
One day, after Isvar Chandra had finished his preliminary education in the primary school of his native village, his teacher, Kalikanta, came to his father, Thakurdas, and said:—"This boy is very intelligent. He has finished his curriculum here. You should now take him to Calcutta, and placed him in a good English school there so that he might receive proper English education." Thakurdas agreed, and resolved to take the boy to Calcutta. But their departure had to be deferred for a few days, owing to the death of Isvar Chandra's grandfather, Ramjay Tarkasiddhanta, who had been suffering for some time from dysentery. After the funeral and Sraddha ceremonies (last rites in honour and memory of the dead in accordance with the Hindu Sastras) had been over, Thakurdas, accompanied with his little son, Isvar Chandra, started for Calcutta, one day in the month of November, 1829. Isvar Chandra's beloved teacher Kalikanta, and Anandaram Guti, a menial servant, were their sole companions. Isvar Chandra's affectionate mother, Bhagavati Devi, began to cry bitterly and loudly when she heard that her dear little boy of eight years was going to Calcutta where he would have to put up with many troubles. The journey, at that time, from Birsingha to Calcutta was very difficult and tedious. There was no railway or anything of the kind. In fact, there was no good road, properly so called. The communication between the two places by water also was not very easy. The new Uluberia canal was not then dug, and it was not considered safe to pass the rivers by boat. There was the fear of storms, which rose quite suddenly, over and above the dread of pirates, who were always in search of prey, and plundered and killed the passengers whenever opportunity presented itself. Boats belonging to traders and merchants journeyed on in company during day-light, and took shelter before dusk at some convenient, safe harbour. Ordinary passengers dared not travel by the rivers.
These considerations led Thakurdas to prefer the land route. So he, followed by his son, the village schoolmaster, and the servant, started for Calcutta on foot. At the end of the first day's journey, they came to the house of the maternal uncle of Isvar Chandra's mother in the village of Patul, and there lodged for that day. The next day, they travelled twenty miles, and, about sunset, arrived at the residence of a gentleman, who was nearly related to Thakurdas, and here they rested for the night. The third day, they were on the metalled road from Sheakhala to Salkea, which is a village opposite to Calcutta, divided from it only by the river Hugli.
The extraordinary intellect and memory, with which Isvar Chandra was gifted, and which raised him to such eminence, showed themselves in the little boy on this Salkea road. Here was visible the sprout which subsequently grew into a big tree, with spreading branches bearing nice fruit and sweet-smelling flowers, under which many a wearied traveller found shelter, and ate of the fruit, and smelt of the flowers. There were mile-stones on the road, and the boy, Isvar Chandra, with childish inquisitiveness, enquired of his father what these stones were for. His father smiled at the simplicity of the boy, and replied that these were called mile-stones, explaining, at the same time, that they were placed at intervals of a distance of mile, which was nearly equalled to half a Bengali krosh, to indicate the length of the road. The boy learned the English figures (1 to 10) from the numbers engraved on the mile-stones. Presently, a little farther on the road, a milestone was not shown to the boy purposely, in order to test the boy's knowledge. When they came to the next mile-stone, Isvar Chandra remarked that they had omitted to notice a mile-stone, upon which his teacher, Kalikanta, said that the omission was intentional and made on purpose to see whether he (Isvar Chandra) had been able to learn the English figures.
They walked the whole day, and, at about sun-set, reached Salkea. Here they crossed the river Hugli, and arrived at Barabazar, Calcutta, where they repaired to the house of Babu Jagaddurlabh Singha, son of Babu Bhagavat Charan Singha, who had formerly given shelter to Isvar Chandra's father, Thakurdas. Bhagavat Charan had died sometime before this. Jagaddurlabh Babu was, at this time, only twenty-five years old. He knew Thakurdas from his early years, and revered him as his own father. His mother, who was the mistress of the house, an elder sister and her husband and two sons, a widowed sister and her only son;—these were the sole members of Jagaddurlabh Babu's family.
The boy, Isvar Chandra, was a great favourite with every one of the members of this household. He surprised them all by his wonderful memory. On the second day of their arrival at Calcutta, his father, Thakurdas, was engaged in adding up the amounts of several bills written in English, belonging to Jagaddurlabh Babu. Isvar Chandra was sitting close to his father, and looking at the bills. Presently, he whispered in his father's ears that he could, if permitted, sum up the figures. With this, he began to add the figures, and in a few minutes summed up the amounts of the several bills correctly, without a single mistake. Every one present was amazed at the marvellous parts of the little boy. His teacher, Kalikanta, who was sitting by him, was exceedingly delighted, and, having affectionately kissed him, said;— "Well done, my dear boy, may God give you a long life. The love I bestowed on you has not been in vain." The reader may laugh at the story with incredulity; but this is not very incredible. When we study the lives of great men, we find many instances of extraordinary power in every one of them. All talented men, endowed with extraordinary powers of the mind, are known to have given clear indications, in their early years, of their future greatness. The germs of their future eminence put forth their sprouts at an early age, and indicated the place they were to occupy in their after-life. Milton used to say:—"The child shows the man, as morning shows the day."
It is said of the famous Bengali poet, Isvar Chandra Gupta, that when he first came to Calcutta he was only seven or eight years old. Shortly after his arrival, one of his father's acquaintances asked him, one day, how he was faring in Calcutta. The future poet, at once replied in verse, that he was living in Calcutta with mosquitoes in the night and flies in the day.
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the best novel-writer of Bengal, is said to have learnt the Bengali alphabet in one day.
Johnson was known to be the possessor of many qualities. He had a superior memory. One day, when he was only a little boy, and had only begun to read and write, his mother asked him to learn a prayer-book by heart, and leaving the boy with the task, went upstairs. The little boy ran after his mother, and scarcely had she reached her room, when Johnson appeared before her and repeated the prayer-book, from the beginning to the end, without missing a single syllable. His mother was quite surprised and delighted at the marvellous memory of her little son. To tell the truth, he read the book only twice and learnt it all.
The famous poet, Pope, wrote his "Ode on Solitude" when he was only twelve years old. He used to compose verses at a still earlier age, but his father did not approve of this. He told Pope not to waste his time in writing poems, but the boy would not hear him, and when his father, one day, gave him a severe beating, he cried out in verse:—
"Papa, papa, pity take,
I will no more verses make."
Milton composed verses at a very early age, and the famous writers of the time were amazed at the beauty of his poems. Such instances are not rare.
Everyone admired the extraordinary powers of the little boy Isvar Chandra, and earnestly requested his father to place him in a good English school. Thakurdas was highly delighted at the praise bestowed on his son, and expressed his desire that he would send him to the Hindu College. Those present suggested that he could not aspire to that, as he was getting a pay of only ten rupees a month, out of which he would have to pay a school-fee of five rupees every month, if he sent his son to the Hindu College. Thakurdas replied that he would somehow or other manage to defray his household expenses at five rupees. Thakurdas's mind was then full of aspirations, and was animated with the ardour of giving his son a decent education. He called to mind his little son's extraordinary talents, and, encouraged with the prospects of Isvar Chandra's future greatness, wholly lost sight of his pecuniary difficulties.
Although he had resolved to send his son immediately to the Hindu College, Thakurdas could not carry out the project for three succeeding months. These three months Isvar Chandra devoted in obtaining a little more preliminary instruction in a neighbouring vernacular pathsala under the tuition of a veteran teacher, Svarup Chandra Das, of whom Vidyasagar thus speaks in his autobiography:—The teacher of the pathsala, Svarup Chandra Das was perhaps more skilful in the art of teaching than my former teacher, Kalikanta'.
Isvar Chandra must have considered himself very fortunate in finding shelter with Babu Jagaddurlabh Singha, whose kindness of heart was equal to his means. Not only did he give the boy and his father shelter, but he provided them also with food and clothing, and treated them most kindly and affectionately. The female members of his household were equally kind and lovely. Jagaddurlabh Babu's younger sister, Raimani, loved the boy, Isvar Chandra, dearer than her own son. In his autobiography Vidyasagar thus describes her:—'I have never seen a woman equal to Raimani in kindness, affection, amiability, loveliness, and openness of heart. The image of this noble woman has been indelibly engraved in my mind. She was a goddess to me. I adored her as my mother. Even at this old age I cannot help shedding grateful tears at the recollection of her amiable appearance and noble qualities, whenever her name is mentioned in passing.'
In fact, without the affectionate kindness of this motherly, noble woman, it would have been very difficult for young Isvar Chandra to live in Calcutta. For a few days after his arrival at Calcutta, he was much pained at the recollection of his affectionate mother and grandmother. His father could not always remain with him. Thakurdas used to go out daily to his place of employment at nine O'clock in the morning and came back in the evening at the same hour. He was thus absent from his son continuously for twelve long hours. All this time, Raimani and the other inmates of Jagaddurlabh Babu's house, tried their best to divert his mind by kind and gentle words. They gave him food and drink whenever the boy required, and comforted him. In this way they won over Isvar Chandra's heart.
In India many such poor boys have found shelter with kind-hearted noblemen, who have taken great care to bring up and train these helpless boys. Some of these poor boys are known to have become great men and to have left an everlasting name. Who is there in Bengal who has not heard the name of Ramdulal Sarkar, the then great millionaire of Calcutta? And what was he in his early years? He was only a poor, helpless urchin, wandering in the streets of the large city, with no one to care for him. But how did he then succeed in amassing such immense wealth, and rising to such eminence? He found shelter with the benevolent Dattas of Hatkhola, a highly noble family in Calcutta, who not only fed and clothed him, but also brought him up as became the son of a gentleman. He was then provided by them with a suitable employment, and, gradually, by dint of his honesty, truthfulness, and business-capacity, he soon became one of the foremost and wealthiest native merchants of Calcutta. When we think of the utter destitute and helpless state of the poor boy, Ramdulal, and the kind and generous treatment he received from the Dattas, we forget that the world, we live in, is wicked. On the contrary, it appears to be a heaven, and its inmates, angels.
After Isvar Chandra had been three months in Calcutta, he had a sudden attack of acute dysentery of a very severe type. The stools were too frequent and bloody. His father, Thakurdas, nursed him, and removed the soil with his own hands. He was placed under the treatment of Durgadas Kaviraj, a neighbouring native physician of great repute. But the foul disease grew more serious every day, and, at last, his life was despaired of. No sooner did the news of his illness reach Birsingha, than his old grandmother hurried to Calcutta, and was soon by the bedside of her dear, little grandson. She nursed him tenderly for a few days, but when she saw that the disease was growing worse every day, she took him away to his native village, Birsingha, where he soon recovered even without any medical help.
To regain his former health, Isvar Chandra had to stay at his home for three months. By the end of May he returned to Calcutta in company with his father, who had gone home to bring him back. They resolved to travel by land as before. On the former occasion, they were accompanied by a menial servant, Ananda Ram Guti, who, at intervals, bore the boy Isvar Chandra on his shoulders. Thakurdas now asked Isvar Chandra whether he would be able to walk such a long distance, or Ananda Ram should accompany them, to which the boy replied with great enthusiasm that he would be able to walk, and that Ananda Ram would be an unnecessary accompaniment. Isvar Chandra was fearless and enthusiastic from his very childhood.
Both father and son started on foot, and after walking a distance of more than twelve miles, came to village Patul, where they lodged for that day. This first day Isvar Chandra felt no difficulty. The next morning, they started for Ramnagar, a village twelve miles off from Patul. Annapurna, a younger sister of Thakurdas's, had been married to a respectable Brahman of Ramnagar. At the time, of which we are speaking, she was living with her husband, but was ill. Thakurdas and Isvar Chandra were going to Ramnagar to see her, on their way to Calcutta. When they had walked only six miles from Patul, Isvar Chandra was quite disabled to move farther. His legs and feet were swollen and painful. It was a hot and sultry day of Indian May, and the sun was then in its zenith. Thakurdas was in great peril. What was he to do now? How was he to help his son on? The path was lonely. There was no conveyance available. Thakurdas showed the boy a yonder field of melons, saying that he would feed him with a belly-ful of melons, if he would only walk to the field. Thus encouraged, Isvar Chandra limped slowly towards the field, which he reached with great difficulty. He ate melons there, and appeased his appetite, but his feet became more painful and refused their office. Thakurdas was now exceedingly annoyed. In great vexation he left Isvar Chandra on the spot, and walked on, at which the little boy began to cry. Thakurdas came back to his son, and took him up on his shoulders, but he was a feeble man himself and quite unable to carry a stout lad of eight years. He then set down the boy on the ground, and began to upbraid him for not allowing Ananda Ram to bear them company. The father, who had never before laid hands on Isvar Chandra, now smote him in the face. Isvar Chandra renewed his cries more loudly. But all this would not do. Anyhow the boy must be borne, or he would die on the road. The father again took up the child, and moved slowly on. In this way he carried the boy with utmost difficulty, and, at about sun-set, arrived at Ramnagar. Here they rested for that night and the next day. On the fourth day they came to Baidyabati, and from thence by boat to Calcutta.
Now was the time to send young Isvar Chandra to school. This time Thakurdas thought of giving him Sanskrit education. His idea was that if Isvar Chandra learnt Sanskrit well, he would be able to open a tol (Sanskrit school) and set up as a Sanskrit professor. Madhusudan Vachaspati, a not very distant relation of Isvar Chandra's was then a student of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta. This Madhusudan was cousin to Radha Mohan Vidyabhushan, who was maternal uncle to Isvar Chandra's mother. Madhusudan advised Thakurdas to send his son to the Sanskrit College, where the system of imparting instruction was more perfect. Besides, he said, there were plenty of paths open for the successful students of this school. There were good prospects even for him, who would aspire to a respectable situation. The post of Judge-Pandit (legal adviser to a District civil Judge on Hindu law) was reserved for those brilliant scholars who, after passing the course of training in the other branches of the Sanskrit Literature, also passed the Law-Committee examination.
Madhu Sudan delivered this advice in a most impressive manner, and Thakurdas, convinced of its propriety, approved of it. Pandit Gangadhar Tarkavagis was, at that time, one of the professors of Grammar in the Sanskrit College. Thakurdas consulted also the learned professor on the subject, and the latter was of the same opinion as Madhu Sudan. Ultimately, it was definitely settled that Isvar Chandra should be placed in the Sanskrit College.