Shantiniketan 17 - 24 Feb

After Bhagalpur, I took the train south towards Shantiniketan. I stayed with a wonderful lady right next to Vishva-Bharati, the university founded by the famous poet Tagore. I was particularly curious about the library of Professor Tan Yun-Shan at Cheena Bhavan, especially his links to the Aurobindo Ashram, as well as books related to his students and colleagues who had visited or worked there.

On the night I arrived, I met some friendly students from the university. They told me about the upcoming events at Shantiniketan and drove me around on their motorcycle.

The next day, I visited the ashram grounds and Vishva-Bharati. I managed to get in and went to Cheena Bhavan, where I spent that afternoon and most of the following day going through Professor Tan Yun-Shan’s private collection. It was fascinating, many of the books contained his personal annotations. Although I found far more books related to peace and my project than I had expected, one Sino-Indian pamphlet that I hoped to find was missing: Sri Aurobindo’s Message to the World by Tan Yun-Shan.

The deer park was rather underwhelming, you could only walk about a hundred meters into it. There’s also a museum dedicated to Tagore and his Gitanjali, which was ok.

In the last few days before leaving India for China, I realized how much I had missed China. Although my visit to Shantiniketan had only lasted a week, I was okay with it, I knew I’d return eventually.

Just a random quote by Aurobindo that I liked while reading during my writing this goddag letter on Shantiniketan: “The tiger can be no more blamed for killing and devouring than the atom for its blind movements, the fire for burning and consuming, or the storm for its destructions.”