Who inspired this Rabindra sangeet?

Almost six years earlier, I heard a song by Rabindra Nath Tagore. It starts like this “Shiuli phota phurolo” and while it is listed under the genre nature in Geeto Bitan, it is also a love song. Tagore wrote it in 1923, and while I might have heard it even earlier in my life, it did not register as much as it has in recent years. Well, nothing new there, since most of Tagore's admirers know and many have said it to me that his lyrics, his words, his music, and everything in his creative work come back to you with a new meaning as you cross through different phases of your life line. Expressions and feelings that had no significance in your twenties take on a different meaning when you are mellower, pass middle age, or reach a stage in your life when you are able to look at your life in retrospective. In other words, how you take in a verse changes with your life's journey.
When I heard the song for the first time and had downloaded it with another one of Tagore's puja/prem song “prokhoro topon tapey akash trishay kapey”. At first glance, both have something in common: for example, the reference to flowers, making of garlands (boron mala), and exchange of garlands. For me, at that juncture of my life, the narrative in the prokhoro song became much more alive, and overshadowed the sentiments embedded in “shiuli phota”. I rediscovered the latter again in 2014 as I was rummaging through my old mp3 music files, and this time it touched a sweet nerve in me and I could see the poet more intimately through the fog of words and the notes. The imagery and the metaphors stayed with me as I tried to connect with Tagore as he weaved those words and tune of a mature stage of his life.
The song, for those who might not have Geeto Bitan handy or the song might not immediately ring a bell, is only ten lines long:
In this song, Tagore is conveying a very contemplative and soulful message to his love, and he wonders why she came into his world in the autumn of his life. Incidentally, the flower the poet alludes to in the opening line, “shiuli”, blooms at the end of autumn and he uses it as a reference to the fading years of his life. A casual reading might give the impression that he is lamenting the appearance of this friend, possibly a lover, at the end of the season, so to speak. But then the tone changes and he is getting ready to embrace this late-comer.

If I were a teenager starting to learn Rabindra Sangeet, as I did with my guru Atiqul Islam or Atiq Bhai as we called him, I probably would have considered this song as just another from his repertoire that he teaches his class. Atiq Bhai was very meticulous about telling us whether it is a prem, puja or prokriti porjay song.  Geeto Bitan lists the genre of “shiuli phota” as nature and accordingly I probably would be inclined to put it in the category of nature along with others such as, “ogo dokhin hawa”, “dokhin hawa jago jagojago”, or “ami tokhono chhilem mogono”. We were aware even then that many of Kobiguru's songs and poetry are allegorical, and they have more than one meaning; however, we also had to pay close attention to the taal, raga, kaaj, loy, and all the technical aspects of Rabindra Sangeet and our class concentrated on mastering the technicalities first. Then with time, we started to appreciate the many other shades of his songs. A “prokriti” song reappears as a “prem” and/or a “puja” style song depending on your stage in life or philosophical disposition. I have found that many of his puja songs came in handy as a love song to cheer me up. For example, “chiro shokha, chereo naa morey” we learned as a puja porjay song. But, later on many occasions, I found it very much close to my heart as a serenade, or a love song.
As I mentioned before, “shiuli phota” is listed as a nature song, and he might have initiated it that way. Tagore was living in Bolpur when he wrote it and his brother's grandson Dinendranath Tagore, whom he affectionately called Dinu, codified his tune. But, we notice immediately that his mood undergoes a change. He starts with a heavy heart because the object of his love or some inanimate object--or was it a feeling?-- came to him atthe ripe age of 62. From all accounts he was healthy and was in the prime of his life settling down in Shanti Niketan. Nonetheless, he refers to this newcomer as one coming late in his life, as in other songs where he refers to Shorot or autumn. He uses a very magical allusion, the Shiuli phool, which blossoms in fall and dies out with the advent of winter.
But then he turns around in the next line and is alluding to his preparations for this new person, with daala(offering) and boronmala (garland). The hook is the word “goponey”. But he bemoans his lack of an adequate dowry, since he mentions a couple of times his empty house or coffers (shunno khoney). He might also be hesitant either because of his busy life, or the noise around him or even not sure if the love he has been offered is his to hold on to. We see a touch of his tormented mind when he says that he is secretly preparing the welcoming boronmala but is keeping it out of sight, in his heart “hridoy toley”.
But why is he sad or conflicted, I wonder? In the 1920s, when he wrote this song, while Tagore is not young, he is nonetheless at a wonderful juncture of his life. He had just received the Noble Prize for Literature and is dedicating his boundless energy towards building his school, recruiting the best talents, and guiding the young students flocking to Bolpur in droves. And, while demands on his time has quadrupled with invitations for speaking engagements, receptions, various cultural and inauguration ceremonies in Biswa Bharati, and as always his hectic pace of writing, he found time for his loved ones. He refers to all the clutter in his daily life very elegantly as “diner kolahol'. His life was always full of kolahol which he manages to deftly defy. We see that throughout his life whether at home or abroad.
But the most heart-rending sentiments come in the last few words.
He is giving hope that when the suns sets and stars are out, I will find time for thee. We will exchange garlands, but only with songs. You will find me but then he gives out the last twist, “money money”. It will not happen as we all were wishing for, but only in an imaginary world or we can pretend!
As I kept on humming this song, my own heart kept beating faster and faster. Who was this mysterious siren who Kobiguru was pining for. It wasn't his wife Mrinalini since she died much earlier. There are was Victoria Ocampo of Argentina, who adored him, and expressed her feeling for him in many ways. He in turn lovingly called her Bijaya and dedicated his anthology “Purabi” to her.  
However, it also known that Kobiguru had another young admirer during that time in his camp, Ranu Adhikari. One observer comments that her “beauty, simplicity, and gloriously freewheeling love and admiration for the handsome old man inspired his creative genius in significant ways.” When he met her first he was 59 and she 12. But as she grew older and beautiful, she started flirting with him but he was aware of the age difference. At age 62 when he wrote the song, Ranu was a teenager in full bloom (she got married at 20). Much later, after she got married, Ranu would visit the poet with her husband, and he would sing love songs in their presence.
I do not know whether he sang “shiuli phota” on one of these occasions.
As the time for flowering of Shiuli ends
You take up the vacancy in the winter woods.
Secretly arranging the daala thus subconsciously prepare the varanmala with sad notes in the idle time.
It would remain concealed within my heart during the daytime – My varanmala.
When the evening stars would rise garland of notes would be exchanged with you, subconsciously.
One day, I'd like to find out the identity of this mystery person who had Kobiguru in such turmoil. Was it Ocampo , Ranu or some other of his many admirers?  

Dr. Abdullah Shibli lives and works in Boston, USA