What do you think?
Rate this book
Best of Rabindranath Tagore Box Set
This is a special edition of the collection of works by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It showcases some of the best stories and verses written by Tagore in a commemorative edition.
Best Of Rabindranath Tagore (Set Of 5): Gitanjali, My Boyhood Days, The Post Office, The Gardner Mashi And Other Stories contains Gitanjali, his translations of poems originally written in Bengali, the book that earned him the Nobel Prize. It also contains his autobiography, My Childhood Days. These are recollections of his early days when he grew up in colonial India. His reminiscences of the days he spent in Calcutta when it was a growing metropolis, with the streets lit by gas lamps and the traffic consisting mainly of horse-drawn carriages, are enchanting.
The Post Office is a bittersweet tale, of a sick child who longs to see the outside world. When the construction of a post office begi
Best Of Rabindranath Tagore (Set Of 5): Gitanjali, My Boyhood Days, The Post Office, The Gardner Mashi And Other Stories contains Gitanjali, his translations of poems originally written in Bengali, the book that earned him the Nobel Prize. It also contains his autobiography, My Childhood Days. These are recollections of his early days when he grew up in colonial India. His reminiscences of the days he spent in Calcutta when it was a growing metropolis, with the streets lit by gas lamps and the traffic consisting mainly of horse-drawn carriages, are enchanting.
The Post Office is a bittersweet tale, of a sick child who longs to see the outside world. When the construction of a post office begi
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2004
124 people are currently reading
597 people want to read
About the author
Rabindranath Tagore
2,527 books4,236 followersAwarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West."
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.
The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.
The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 23, 2025
The Home and The World by Rabindranath Tagore – one of The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...
9 out of 10
India is to become quite soon the most populous country in the world, surpassing China – which incidentally is such a good thing and it would be even better, if they were to get ahead financially, economically, given that they are in this cold war, and the latter is a tyranny, with a despot at the helm, and the former is a democracy (flawed, but with free elections nonetheless) and the hopes of the world rest in part with India and other democracies prevailing and preventing Xi from occupying Taiwan and more broadly, impose on The World their own crooked, disgusting politics, wherein oppression, abuse of human rights, ingurgitating territory, as it happened with Tibet, using violence and aggression to get their wishes imposed…they clash with India at their border on the high mountains and they push around almost all their neighbors, though they are now chummy with Russia, for those ‘of a feather get together’ and they like each other for being just as unscrupulous and vile…
The Home and The World is an impressive fresco and much of what we find in the book can be applied to India in 2022, alas, many of the flaws and excesses are still there, and having lambasted the communist giant, there is a lot to criticize in India, as we see it in the novel, and more particularly, the country that we see today, with a leader that had been elected, Modi, but who has so many shortcomings as to make me put him on the list of dislikable, even despicable world rulers, for the violence that he seems to have instigated, when he was a lower ranking official, albeit the supremo in his own state, the tolerance he shows now for Hindus that attack Muslims, the populism and nationalism that have reached extremist levels and which makes the connection with The Home and The World.
Some people have considered that this is about Gandhi, only he was very little, if at all known in India or elsewhere in 1916 when Rabindranath Tagore published his novel, therefore it is someone else that has inspired the author – perhaps he had even read and been inspired by The Possessed by the Russian giant, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, where a group of rebellious men conspire to change things http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/07/t... in a way, as it happens in The Home and The World, where nationalists want to eliminate products from The World and use only things made in India, putting pressure on Nikhilesh aka Nikhil, one of the main characters, perhaps the most likeable of the lot, in spite of his weakness and inability to manage the situation…
In quite a few ways, what happens in this opus announces the arrival of Gandhi, famous worldwide, a symbol of peaceful protest, with his marches to the ocean to get the salt which had been controlled by the British, the weaving of material for clothes, so that it would not be imported from Britain and thus encourage, assure sustenance for the local people – when taken to an extreme, this becomes protectionism and eventually damages the wellbeing of those it means to protect, because instead of getting cheaper materials, goods that are accessible from the outside, The World, protectionists impose barriers and thus the poorer folk end up being unable to afford much of what could be easier to get, if only there were brought from another country (mostly China nowadays, but let us hope this would change and we will get them from Vietnam, Kenya and anywhere else, stopping the rise of the Red Commie Evil Dragon…
Sandip is the character that would represent change, rebellion and nationalism in the narrative, and however merit worthy some of the ideas he promotes are, there is much in his demeanor, acts that is despicable, he may be somewhat infatuated (love would not be a proper word) with Bimala, Nikhil’s wife, but the certainty that this reader has is that he tries to use her for his goals in a Machiavellian way – the goal justifies the means, or more like it does not matter what it takes, I must get it – and the woman is seduced by his apparently idealistic nature and the ménage a trois moves in favor of Sandip.
The latter is a dominant – could be a BDSM aficionado intent on torturing others and using what sometimes look like pretexts to create havoc and advance sometimes dubious ideals…yes, ending colonialism is a noble end, but in the intricacy of the story, many are pushed into stealing from their own people, the elimination of goods made elsewhere from the market controlled by Nikhil means trouble for the locals, both those that sell and the buyers – as explained before, above – and Nikhil refuses to impose an embargo, he is pressured, there are chants against him and his physical integrity is placed in danger…
Furthermore, Bimala and her protégé, Amulya, are pushed into stealing money, first, Sandip says he needs fifty thousand rupees, because his irresponsible behavior has caused damage – those who opposed his policy of eliminating, destroying goods of alien provenance saw their property destroyed and some could take some measures against this, but bribery would be involved and money to press with the goals of the nationalists, somehow controlled by Sandip – and to begin with, Bimala gets six thousand rupees.
She plans to use her jewelry to get money, but she also feels remorse and sorry for her spouse – she had said at times that she ‘wishes he were more ‘manly’ and that would mean macho I guess, showing not just a stern side, but even some meanness, he had been so good to her as to be unbelievable at the time, he was an aristocrat and he had married not just a poor woman, but one who was not a ‘beauty’ and promoted her, rejected the servility usual in traditional houses, where the woman would be treated like a slave, more or less – and then Sandip claims possession of the jewels, even if this is outrageous…
The precious stones and decorations are given to Amulya, so that he takes them to the city to sell them, for much less than they are worth, because there is a time pressure and the theft would be soon found out and Sandip takes the box with the jewels form Amulya and claims he has control over them and over the latter, and he would ‘give them’ to Bimala…however, Nikhil asks his guest to leave the province that he controls, because the turmoil and trouble fomented have become too much, and besides, he is aware of the nefarious influence Sandip has gained over his wife – fortunately, she may escape that spell…
Speaking of revolutions, I took part in the 1989 one, which took down Ceausescu, one of the vilest dictators Europe has seen
http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
9 out of 10
India is to become quite soon the most populous country in the world, surpassing China – which incidentally is such a good thing and it would be even better, if they were to get ahead financially, economically, given that they are in this cold war, and the latter is a tyranny, with a despot at the helm, and the former is a democracy (flawed, but with free elections nonetheless) and the hopes of the world rest in part with India and other democracies prevailing and preventing Xi from occupying Taiwan and more broadly, impose on The World their own crooked, disgusting politics, wherein oppression, abuse of human rights, ingurgitating territory, as it happened with Tibet, using violence and aggression to get their wishes imposed…they clash with India at their border on the high mountains and they push around almost all their neighbors, though they are now chummy with Russia, for those ‘of a feather get together’ and they like each other for being just as unscrupulous and vile…
The Home and The World is an impressive fresco and much of what we find in the book can be applied to India in 2022, alas, many of the flaws and excesses are still there, and having lambasted the communist giant, there is a lot to criticize in India, as we see it in the novel, and more particularly, the country that we see today, with a leader that had been elected, Modi, but who has so many shortcomings as to make me put him on the list of dislikable, even despicable world rulers, for the violence that he seems to have instigated, when he was a lower ranking official, albeit the supremo in his own state, the tolerance he shows now for Hindus that attack Muslims, the populism and nationalism that have reached extremist levels and which makes the connection with The Home and The World.
Some people have considered that this is about Gandhi, only he was very little, if at all known in India or elsewhere in 1916 when Rabindranath Tagore published his novel, therefore it is someone else that has inspired the author – perhaps he had even read and been inspired by The Possessed by the Russian giant, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, where a group of rebellious men conspire to change things http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/07/t... in a way, as it happens in The Home and The World, where nationalists want to eliminate products from The World and use only things made in India, putting pressure on Nikhilesh aka Nikhil, one of the main characters, perhaps the most likeable of the lot, in spite of his weakness and inability to manage the situation…
In quite a few ways, what happens in this opus announces the arrival of Gandhi, famous worldwide, a symbol of peaceful protest, with his marches to the ocean to get the salt which had been controlled by the British, the weaving of material for clothes, so that it would not be imported from Britain and thus encourage, assure sustenance for the local people – when taken to an extreme, this becomes protectionism and eventually damages the wellbeing of those it means to protect, because instead of getting cheaper materials, goods that are accessible from the outside, The World, protectionists impose barriers and thus the poorer folk end up being unable to afford much of what could be easier to get, if only there were brought from another country (mostly China nowadays, but let us hope this would change and we will get them from Vietnam, Kenya and anywhere else, stopping the rise of the Red Commie Evil Dragon…
Sandip is the character that would represent change, rebellion and nationalism in the narrative, and however merit worthy some of the ideas he promotes are, there is much in his demeanor, acts that is despicable, he may be somewhat infatuated (love would not be a proper word) with Bimala, Nikhil’s wife, but the certainty that this reader has is that he tries to use her for his goals in a Machiavellian way – the goal justifies the means, or more like it does not matter what it takes, I must get it – and the woman is seduced by his apparently idealistic nature and the ménage a trois moves in favor of Sandip.
The latter is a dominant – could be a BDSM aficionado intent on torturing others and using what sometimes look like pretexts to create havoc and advance sometimes dubious ideals…yes, ending colonialism is a noble end, but in the intricacy of the story, many are pushed into stealing from their own people, the elimination of goods made elsewhere from the market controlled by Nikhil means trouble for the locals, both those that sell and the buyers – as explained before, above – and Nikhil refuses to impose an embargo, he is pressured, there are chants against him and his physical integrity is placed in danger…
Furthermore, Bimala and her protégé, Amulya, are pushed into stealing money, first, Sandip says he needs fifty thousand rupees, because his irresponsible behavior has caused damage – those who opposed his policy of eliminating, destroying goods of alien provenance saw their property destroyed and some could take some measures against this, but bribery would be involved and money to press with the goals of the nationalists, somehow controlled by Sandip – and to begin with, Bimala gets six thousand rupees.
She plans to use her jewelry to get money, but she also feels remorse and sorry for her spouse – she had said at times that she ‘wishes he were more ‘manly’ and that would mean macho I guess, showing not just a stern side, but even some meanness, he had been so good to her as to be unbelievable at the time, he was an aristocrat and he had married not just a poor woman, but one who was not a ‘beauty’ and promoted her, rejected the servility usual in traditional houses, where the woman would be treated like a slave, more or less – and then Sandip claims possession of the jewels, even if this is outrageous…
The precious stones and decorations are given to Amulya, so that he takes them to the city to sell them, for much less than they are worth, because there is a time pressure and the theft would be soon found out and Sandip takes the box with the jewels form Amulya and claims he has control over them and over the latter, and he would ‘give them’ to Bimala…however, Nikhil asks his guest to leave the province that he controls, because the turmoil and trouble fomented have become too much, and besides, he is aware of the nefarious influence Sandip has gained over his wife – fortunately, she may escape that spell…
Speaking of revolutions, I took part in the 1989 one, which took down Ceausescu, one of the vilest dictators Europe has seen
http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
December 13, 2020
I liked the collection and the depth and layers within the stories. This being my first book by Rabindranath Tagore, my expectation were a bit higher. But barring a few stories like Kabuliwala and Return of the little master, the stories didn't leave.a long lasting mark. But surely worth a read.
February 22, 2017
Kind of ok..
September 22, 2023
A very good collection of smart short stories. Every story had a moral - like we used to have in stories during school days. Took me back to that time when we would refuse to understand anything unless there is an interesting story related to it - which our teachers or our parents/grandparents would relate to us after we had made a mistake.
The structure of the story, the backdrop, characters, storyline, moral - very well chosen. They were all crisp and interesting. For not Indian audience - it wouldn't be very evident for you to look for morals in it. But we as Indians have heard multiple stories from our grandparents during our childhood days that without even the hint of a moral - we know it definitely has one.
So read these stories with an Indian spirit. No advice for the non-Indian audience because I'm not one and have no clue how you can understand the full potential of the stories.
The structure of the story, the backdrop, characters, storyline, moral - very well chosen. They were all crisp and interesting. For not Indian audience - it wouldn't be very evident for you to look for morals in it. But we as Indians have heard multiple stories from our grandparents during our childhood days that without even the hint of a moral - we know it definitely has one.
So read these stories with an Indian spirit. No advice for the non-Indian audience because I'm not one and have no clue how you can understand the full potential of the stories.
October 29, 2021
My Mother Bought This Book From A Scholastic Book Fair In Our School When I Was A Kid. At That Point Of Time I Was Not Ready To Read This Book But Today I Decided To Read It And Loved Each And Every Story. It Contains 12 Best Short Stories By Tagore. It Has Been Translated In English And Compiled By Jharna Basu. It Contains 88 Pages Of Reading And Was Published By Scholastic In 2005. The Illustrations Are Done By Tapas Guha And They Are Quite Cute.
Each Of The Stories Are So Good, Emotional, And Meaningful. There Are 2 Stories That Really Captured My Heart. The First One Is "Kabuliwala" A Very Heart-Touching And Emotional Story. The Second Story Which I Really Liked Is "Wish Fulfilment". This Story Really Taught Me That We Should Live In The Present And Be Happy With Whatever We Have At Present. Overall It Was A Good Read.😊🙏💫
Each Of The Stories Are So Good, Emotional, And Meaningful. There Are 2 Stories That Really Captured My Heart. The First One Is "Kabuliwala" A Very Heart-Touching And Emotional Story. The Second Story Which I Really Liked Is "Wish Fulfilment". This Story Really Taught Me That We Should Live In The Present And Be Happy With Whatever We Have At Present. Overall It Was A Good Read.😊🙏💫
November 30, 2023
This is a collection of 12 short stories. Some of them are a decent read but some felt childish. He always made a point to specify the characters are Brahmans especially when they are rich, educated or have high intelligence. That felt discriminatory towards other castes.
Also I know the time period at which it was written child marriage was quite common but I still felt uncomfortable reading about 11 year old girls getting married.
All in all it wasn't worth the time.
Also I know the time period at which it was written child marriage was quite common but I still felt uncomfortable reading about 11 year old girls getting married.
All in all it wasn't worth the time.
June 15, 2020
A wonderful though few, short stories by the great nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. All Stories are a study of human nature and makes one think about oneself from within.
The writing very simple for anyone from any age group to read and enjoy.
The writing very simple for anyone from any age group to read and enjoy.
July 14, 2020
Brilliant Collection
The stories and the poems by the Legend is a must read. The feel of emotions, the pain of loss, the curiosity and the mystery, is wonderfully described by Shri Tagore.
The stories and the poems by the Legend is a must read. The feel of emotions, the pain of loss, the curiosity and the mystery, is wonderfully described by Shri Tagore.
March 3, 2021
Nice
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2021
Tagore is the BEST !!! Noone can write like him, and never will , fight me.
January 8, 2024
The stories in the starting were good
Then... Ehh....
Then... Ehh....
Read
July 12, 2024purchased in taiwan
March 27, 2025
Most stories are underwhelming, left me expecting more. Good ones are Kabuliwala, The Parrot's Training, Return of the Little master.
June 21, 2018
I really expected to like this book more than I did. Recently I discovered a wonderful TV series from India based on Tagore's short stories. I loved each one of them and wanted to read it.
This collection is pretty small and only includes one of the stories I saw on TV. There are several that I loved. They gave me the same feeling and a wish to sit back and think a bit as the ones on the show. And yet others seemed very dull and I couldn't get into them. I am not sure if there was the problem with the stories, translation or if without visual help me as a person who is n ot of that culture had trouble getting into it.
Still worth 3 stars that represent that I liked it.
This collection is pretty small and only includes one of the stories I saw on TV. There are several that I loved. They gave me the same feeling and a wish to sit back and think a bit as the ones on the show. And yet others seemed very dull and I couldn't get into them. I am not sure if there was the problem with the stories, translation or if without visual help me as a person who is n ot of that culture had trouble getting into it.
Still worth 3 stars that represent that I liked it.
May 31, 2013
Tagore. I don't think I need to write review of his books.
June 27, 2013
a good book]
Want to read
March 12, 2015very good
March 16, 2021
Underwhelmed by the first few stories.. might give it a try later.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews