Caretaker Sisir Routh sits at the doorstep of Rabindra Bhavan. Picture by Jayanta Basu

May 8: In 1940, Bhimlal Routh had carried a frail Rabindranath Tagore in a palanquin 12 km uphill from Rambi to author Maitreyi Devi’s home in Mongpu, where the poet spent a significant part of his last days.

Sixty-six years later, Bhimlal’s grandson Sisir Routh, the 16-room building’s lone caretaker, is helplessly watching it fall apart, minus maintenance or security for the Tagore artwork and memorabilia it houses.

Now converted into a museum and named Rabindra Bhavan, Mongpu, the house stands opposite a closed quinine factory, its treasure at the mercy of burglars two years after the theft of the poet’s Nobel medallion from Santiniketan.

“Ami ekhane eka manush, tao rattire thaki na?churi dakati kichhu ekta hoey gele ki korbo janina (I’m the only one here, and I don’t stay back for the night. I don’t know what I’d do if there’s a theft or robbery),” Routh said.

The museum’s exhibits include an original drawing by Tagore, and copies of many rare letters, documents and photographs. It has some of his personal belongings, such as a chair, table and bed designed by the great man himself, and even the dried-up colour pots and brushes he used.

Outside the house stands a eucalyptus tree, planted by the poet, under which he used to meditate.

Between 1938 and 1940, Tagore came to stay in the house several times and celebrated his birthday with local residents during his last trip. Many of his writings during the period are believed to have been influenced deeply by the intimacy with nature he felt in Mongpu, nestling in the Himalayas about 80 km from Siliguri.

If the lack of security worries Routh, a greater concern is the government’s indifference towards the building’s upkeep.

“The walls are cracked, the plaster is peeling off, some of the window panes are broken and even the wooden floor in some rooms is badly damaged. Water drips from the ceiling during the rains. I don’t know how long the building will last,” Routh said.

“There has been no money for maintenance, and sometimes I had to arrange some for urgent repairs.”

“Only Asok Bhattacharya (municipal affairs and urban development minister in the last two Left Front ministries) provided some funds around six years ago and certain major repairs were done,” a local resident said.

When Tagore stayed in the house, it was owned by the quinine factory, where Maitreyi Devi’s husband worked. The factory, now taken over by the state government, pays Routh on a daily basis for looking after the building.

In 1944, the house was acquired by a local organisation, the Rabindra Memorial Labour Welfare Society, which turned it into a Tagore memorial. A few years ago, the state government took it over and converted it into a museum.

“Several leaders from all the parties, including Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, have visited the house and made promises, but nothing ever came out of them,” another resident of the neighbourhood said.

“The house and the poet’s works during his stay in Mongpu should be preserved for posterity,” said Tagore scholar Arunendu Banerjee.