Tagore’s letter

The letter is signed by the Nobel laureate poet.

A rare hand written letter by Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore was recovered recently from Patisar village under Atrai Upazila in the northern district of Naogaon. It's a landmark discovery, as this is the first document carrying Tagore's handwriting.
Naheed Sultana, custodian, Rabindranath Kachharibari Museum at Shazadpur Upazila in Sirajganj district, confirmed that the six- page letter was addressed to someone in Bolpur (Shantiniketan), West Bengal. Apparently the missive was a response to a request to the poet for his photograph. The letter was dated on Bhadra 28 in the Bengali year 1317.
“As far I know, no original handwritten letter or manuscript of Tagore is in any of the museums in Bangladesh,” said Mohammad Abdul Khaleque, director general, Department of Archaeology, Bangladesh.
The letter has a complicated history: One Matiur Rahman of Patisar village collected the letter from a man named Nazrul Islam. Nazrul Islam inherited it from his father Kabej Ali Mandal, the only Muslim cook working on the poet's boat. Matiur Rahman has been collecting Tagore memorabilia from several districts in the county since 2003 on his own initiative.
Some handwritten letters by the poet's son Rathindranath and other family members are carelessly housed at the Patisar Rathindranath Institute, under the principal in-charge of the institute, ABM Mosaddek Hossain.
Matiur Rahman asserted that a large number of Rabindranath memorabilia had been missing from the Patisar Rabindra Kachharibari since 1947. “I've seen lockers and other furniture lying uncared for at a local sub-post office and union land office in Patisar," he said.
Tagore had pointed out in the letter that his date of birth was May 6, 1861. However, custodian Naheed Sultana told The Daily Star that he was born on May 7 in the same year. She maintained that Tagore was in all likelihood born after 12 am, hence the discrepancy.
In response to a request for a biography, the poet mentioned in the letter that his life history was not important. He did, however, give insights into his younger days and his conjugal life.