SOURCE: “Tagore: Ideas and Themes,” in Chekhov and Tagore: A Comparative Study of Their Short Stories, Sterling Publishers, 1985, pp. 56–89.

In the following essay, Basu compares the short stories of Tagore to those of Anton Chekhov in terms of literary realism.

There were certain important episodes, in the personal life of Tagore, which found expression in his works of the ninetes of the nineteenth century. As advised by his father, during the nineties Tagore had to take up responsibility of running the family estate. He had to leave Calcutta and stay in the village. From 1891 onwards Tagore had to travel a lot in these estates in central and nothern parts of Bengal. The main office for managing the estates was situated in the village Shilaidaha. He wrote most of his stories while he lived in this village where he had a chance to see the life of the ordinary...