What do you think?
Rate this book
জীবিত ও মৃত
Rabindranath Tagore, also written Rabindranatha Thakura, (7 May 1861 - 7 August 1941), sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and mercurial; however, his "elegant prose and magical poetry remain largely unknown outside Bengal. Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models based on classical Sanskrit. He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indian culture to the West and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist of the modern Indian subcontinent, being highly commemorated in India and Bangladesh, as well as in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan.
Hardcover
First published December 25, 2014
48 people want to read
About the author
Rabindranath Tagore
2,588 books4,262 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 15, 2023
মরে প্রমাণ করতে হল যে মরে নাই। এই গল্পটা দারুণ। মনস্তাত্ত্বিক জনরার এই ছোটগল্পে দেখানো হয় মৃত অবস্থায় স্বীকৃত পাওয়ার পর দেখা যায় তিনি মারা যায়নি কিন্তু মানুষটাকে কেউ জীবিত অবস্থায় মেনে নিতে পারছে না।
September 14, 2023
যদি প্রশ্ন ওঠে, বাংলায় লেখা প্রথম মনস্তাত্ত্বিক রহস্য গল্প কোনটি, তাহলে আমি এটিকেই চিহ্নিত করব। আপাতদৃষ্টিতে এই আখ্যানে অলৌকিক বিষয়টি প্রধান বলে মনে হয়। কিন্তু স্বামী ও স্ত্রীর মানসিক দোলাচল এবং যৌন ঈর্ষার যে অনুপম বিবরণটি এখানে, একটিও অতিরিক্ত শব্দ ব্যয় না করে ফুটিয়ে তোলা হয়েছে, তা লা-জবাব।
যদি রহস্য হিসেবে পড়তে না চান, তাহলে মিতকথন এবং নিপুণ চরিত্রনির্মাণের সার্থক উদাহরণ হিসেবেই এই গল্পটি অবশ্যপাঠ্য।
যদি রহস্য হিসেবে পড়তে না চান, তাহলে মিতকথন এবং নিপুণ চরিত্রনির্মাণের সার্থক উদাহরণ হিসেবেই এই গল্পটি অবশ্যপাঠ্য।
May 18, 2022
'কাদম্বিনী মরিয়া প্রমাণ করিল সে মরে নাই'
May 30, 2020
তখন কাদম্বিনী “ওগাে, আমি মরি নাই গো, মরি নাই গাে, মরি নাই— ” বলিয়া চীৎকার করিয়া ঘর হইতে বাহির হইয়া, সিঁড়ি বাহিয়া নামিয়া অন্তঃপুরের পুষ্করিণীর জলের মধ্যে গিয়া পড়িল। শারদাশংকর উপরের ঘর হইতে শুনিতে পাইলেন ঝপাস্ করিয়া একটা শব্দ হইল।।
সমস্ত রাত্রি বৃষ্টি পড়িতে লাগিল; তাহার পরদিন সকালে ও বৃষ্টি পড়িতেছে, মধ্যাহ্নেও বৃষ্টির বিরাম নাই। কাদম্বিনী মরিয়া প্রমাণ করিল, সে মরে নাই।
সমস্ত রাত্রি বৃষ্টি পড়িতে লাগিল; তাহার পরদিন সকালে ও বৃষ্টি পড়িতেছে, মধ্যাহ্নেও বৃষ্টির বিরাম নাই। কাদম্বিনী মরিয়া প্রমাণ করিল, সে মরে নাই।
Want to read
March 19, 2017good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2022
One of the most commanding stories on this living-dead theme – a foremost grouping in the thematic analysis of the supernatural story - is 'Jivita O Mrita' (Living and Dead), written at the beginning of Tagore's career as a short-story writer.
Although divided into five chapters, it is nonetheless rather petite.
A barren widow lives in the family of a zamindar, her brother-in-law. The singular object of her warmth is her small nephew. One day in the rainy season her heart abruptly stops beating, and she is declared deceased. To keep the police from asking questions, the zamindar orders her body taken to the cremation ground at night.
During the vigil, while the Brahmins who accompanied her, wait for fuel, the corpse moves.
The Brahmins, scared stiff, flee for help. Upon their return, they find merely footprints on a mud-covered path. They think it wiser to tell the zamindar that the body has been cremated consistent with the rules.
Here also the narration is in the third person, and the omniscient narrator explains that the woman had fallen into a sort of coma and later regained awareness. The supernatural element vanishes, since there is no longer any possibility for hesitation between the natural and the supernatural.
The widow was never deceased for the reason that she did not really die. But now her relatives consider her dead and are happy to be rid of her. She is a living woman whom society treats as one dead. Behind that supposition is a resolutely ingrained superstition that anyone brought to the cremation ground as dead - or even taken to the Ganges to die there - belongs indisputedly to Death.
The victim in our story considers herself dead to society. Not for a moment does she think of coming home; she knows she would bring there the 'evil eye'. 'I am my ghost', she says.
The great sarcasm is that she who was duty-bound to pursue a high-caste Hindu widow's restricted frugal life is now altogether free for the first time. She enjoys, for a while, the pleasure of independence, but soon fear overtakes her. She is ill at ease in the world of the living, since she absorbs the feeling of awe she produces in others.
Free from tenets of social behaviour, but lacking any social role, she behaves differently from women of her caste and condition. She scandalises and frightens people.
When, unable to resist her affection for her nephew, she goes home to catch a glimpse of him, she jumps into the pond and drowns in order to prove by her death that she had been alive.
The story describes a psychological case that is a result of social demands. Only incidentally does it analyse the feeling of dread in witnesses of these - for them – incomprehensible events.
Although divided into five chapters, it is nonetheless rather petite.
A barren widow lives in the family of a zamindar, her brother-in-law. The singular object of her warmth is her small nephew. One day in the rainy season her heart abruptly stops beating, and she is declared deceased. To keep the police from asking questions, the zamindar orders her body taken to the cremation ground at night.
During the vigil, while the Brahmins who accompanied her, wait for fuel, the corpse moves.
The Brahmins, scared stiff, flee for help. Upon their return, they find merely footprints on a mud-covered path. They think it wiser to tell the zamindar that the body has been cremated consistent with the rules.
Here also the narration is in the third person, and the omniscient narrator explains that the woman had fallen into a sort of coma and later regained awareness. The supernatural element vanishes, since there is no longer any possibility for hesitation between the natural and the supernatural.
The widow was never deceased for the reason that she did not really die. But now her relatives consider her dead and are happy to be rid of her. She is a living woman whom society treats as one dead. Behind that supposition is a resolutely ingrained superstition that anyone brought to the cremation ground as dead - or even taken to the Ganges to die there - belongs indisputedly to Death.
The victim in our story considers herself dead to society. Not for a moment does she think of coming home; she knows she would bring there the 'evil eye'. 'I am my ghost', she says.
The great sarcasm is that she who was duty-bound to pursue a high-caste Hindu widow's restricted frugal life is now altogether free for the first time. She enjoys, for a while, the pleasure of independence, but soon fear overtakes her. She is ill at ease in the world of the living, since she absorbs the feeling of awe she produces in others.
Free from tenets of social behaviour, but lacking any social role, she behaves differently from women of her caste and condition. She scandalises and frightens people.
When, unable to resist her affection for her nephew, she goes home to catch a glimpse of him, she jumps into the pond and drowns in order to prove by her death that she had been alive.
The story describes a psychological case that is a result of social demands. Only incidentally does it analyse the feeling of dread in witnesses of these - for them – incomprehensible events.
December 15, 2025
‘আমি মরিয়াছি ছাড়া তোমাদের কাছে আর কী অপরাধ করিয়াছি। আমার যদি ইহলোকেও স্থান নাই, পরলোকেও স্থান নাই, ওগো, আমি তবে কোথায় যাইব।'
.....ইসস্ এই পার্ট টুকু অন্য মাত্রা এনেছে।
তৎকালীন হিন্দু সমাজে কুসংস্কার ছিল যেন মজ্জাগত। রবীন্দ্রনাথ সমাজের সেই কুসংস্কারকে হয়তো সচেতনভাবেই এড়িয়ে যেতে চাননি। অথবা আধ্যাত্মিক পুরুষ হওয়ার কারণে মৃত ব্যক্তির আত্মার অতৃপ্তিকে সমাজে প্রতিষ্ঠা করতে চেয়েছেন। এটাও হতে পারে তৎকালীন সমাজকে পরিপূর্ণরূপে রূপায়িত করা তার উদ্দেশ্য ছিল। তাই কাদম্বিনীর মৃত্যু রহস্যকে ঘিরে সামাজিক নীতি, আচার-আচরণ তুলে ধরেছেন।
.....ইসস্ এই পার্ট টুকু অন্য মাত্রা এনেছে।
তৎকালীন হিন্দু সমাজে কুসংস্কার ছিল যেন মজ্জাগত। রবীন্দ্রনাথ সমাজের সেই কুসংস্কারকে হয়তো সচেতনভাবেই এড়িয়ে যেতে চাননি। অথবা আধ্যাত্মিক পুরুষ হওয়ার কারণে মৃত ব্যক্তির আত্মার অতৃপ্তিকে সমাজে প্রতিষ্ঠা করতে চেয়েছেন। এটাও হতে পারে তৎকালীন সমাজকে পরিপূর্ণরূপে রূপায়িত করা তার উদ্দেশ্য ছিল। তাই কাদম্বিনীর মৃত্যু রহস্যকে ঘিরে সামাজিক নীতি, আচার-আচরণ তুলে ধরেছেন।
January 10, 2020
খুব ছোট বেলায় নানার কাছে গল্পটা শুনেছিলাম। মনে গেঁথে গিয়েছিল। এবার খুঁজে পেলাম, "মরিয়া প্রমাণ করিল সে মরে নাই।"
October 4, 2020
To prove that you are alive you have to die.
Read
June 23, 2021She sacrifice her life to prove that she was alive.
And that's how prejudice and the wrong idea of sin makes it so hard to understand the love behind.
And that's how prejudice and the wrong idea of sin makes it so hard to understand the love behind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2022
My first fiction of the year (in years)! Rabindranath Tagore is so enchanting, I came across him in a poem.
April 17, 2023
মরেছে নাকি মরে নাই?
October 27, 2023
Rabindra's take on tragi-thriller. Jokes aside, this was most heartbreaking.
July 21, 2024
a bit traumatizing
September 10, 2024
Such a stunning ending. "By dying,
Kadambini had given proof that she was not dead." Brilliant!
Kadambini had given proof that she was not dead." Brilliant!
November 23, 2024
জীবিত হয়েও জায়গা নেই... "কাদম্বিনী মরিয়া প্রমাণ করিলো সে মরে নাই"। What an outstanding story!
Read
May 25, 2025কা���ম্বিনী মরিয়া প্রমাণ করিল, সে মরে নাই।
June 20, 2025
"কাদম্বিনী মরিয়া প্রমান করিলো সে মরে নাই"
গল্পটাও মরে নাই। কিছু প্রশ্ন থেকেই যায়।
কাদম্বিনীর কীভাবে মৃত্যু হলো? কেনই বা তাকে সৎকারের এতো তাড়া? এ নিয়ে বিস্তর গবেষণার প্রয়োজন বোধ করছি।
গল্পটাও মরে নাই। কিছু প্রশ্ন থেকেই যায়।
কাদম্বিনীর কীভাবে মৃত্যু হলো? কেনই বা তাকে সৎকারের এতো তাড়া? এ নিয়ে বিস্তর গবেষণার প্রয়োজন বোধ করছি।
August 15, 2021
কুসংস্কারের আর পাপের মিথ্যা ধোয়াশায় এভাবেই ভালবাসা চাপা পড়ে যায়।
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews