Nirmal Kumari Mahalanobis

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Nirmal Kumari Mahalanobis
Nirmalkumari c. 1930s
Nirmalkumari c. 1930s
Native name
নির্মলকুমারী মহলানবিশ
Born24 October 1900
Died13 March 1981
OccupationAuthor
LanguageBengali
Citizenship
  • British Raj
  • India
SubjectRabindranath Tagore
Notable works'Kobi' and 'Rani': Memoirs and Correspondences of Nirmalkumari Mahalanobis and Rabindranath Tagore
SpousePrasanta Chandra Mahalanobis

Nirmal Kumari Mahalanobis (bn; 24 October 1900 – 13 March 1981) was an Indian author who wrote memoirs dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore. She was notably the wife of P.C. Mahalanobis who was an Indian statistician and the founder of Indian Statistical Institute(ISI), Calcutta.[1] She had been a close support companion of Tagore, especially in the last years of his life. The memoirs of conversations between them are well documented in her book, Kobi and Rani.[2]

Tagore had profound respect for her because of which he called her 'Rani' after his second child, Renuka Devi, who had died of tuberculosis at the age of 12.[3] Mahalanobis had travelled with her later husband, P. C. Mahalanobis and Tagore to different countries in Europe and to South India including Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) the accounts of which were also written by her.[4]

P.C. Mahalanobis and Rani Mahalanobis, 1923

Early life[edit | edit source]

She was born on 24 October 1900 in Calcutta, British Raj. Her father was the Bengali educationalist, Heramba Chandra Moitra who also had been a member of Brahmo Samaj. In Calcutta, she met with the scientist, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis with whom she married on 27th February 1923.[5] This move was met with initial resistance by Heramba, her father who was infuriated with P. C. Mahalanobis showing opposition to various clauses of membership of the student wing of the Brahmo Samaj, including prohibition against the members' smoking and drinking. Therefore, Sir Nilratan Sarkar, had been present at the wedding in place of the father of the bride. Rabindranath Tagore had also been present during the wedding. He had gifted the couple the original manuscript of his recently published work, Basanta.[6] Dedicating his work to them, Tagore wrote:

Template:Translated blockquote

Mahalanobis family lived in the Baranagar house "Sashi Villa" situated at 265/19, Gopal Lal Tagore Road, Baranagar which was often visited by Tagore in where he wrote a few poems. Tagore had renamed this house to Amrapali. In 1960, this villa had been renovated as Mukh Bodhir Vidyalaya (transl. School of Deaf and Dumb). At the time when P. C. Mahalanobis worked at Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Tagore also lived in Alipore observatory building with the Mahalanobis from the years 1923 to 1928. Despite having a room for himself, he preferred to write his poems under the shade of a banyan tree. Today the observatory has been changed to a museum with the Banyan tree still preserved in its place.[7]

  • Tagore with P.C. and Rani Mahalanobis in Alipore Observatory, 1926
    Tagore with P.C. and Rani Mahalanobis in Alipore Observatory, 1926

Career[edit | edit source]

In 1926, both Prasanta and Nirmal Mahalanobis toured with Rabindranath Tagore on a seven month long trip to different countries in Europe which included Italy, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia. This was followed by their trip to South India and Ceylon in 1928.[8]

Kobi and Rani[edit | edit source]

The memoirs of the above mentioned travels are well written in her book (in Bengali) that was published in 1941 long after Tagore's death. In it their travel anthology is divided into two parts namely, Kobir Shongey Europey (transl. With the poet in Europe) and Kabir Shongey Dakshinattey (transl. With the poet in South India).[9] It also includes the translated 60 letters called Pathe o Pather Pranthe (transl. On the road and beyond it) that Kobi Tagore wrote to Rani Mahalanobis out of a total of 500 that he wrote to her in his lifetime.[4] Three other articles written by Mahalanobis have been also included in this volume which are "Om Pita Nohosi" ("You are my holy father"), "Tomaso Ma Jyotirgomayo" ("Your mother is brilliant") and one for children which was published in Autumn Festive Number of Anandamela in 1941.[10]

A month before Tagore died, he remembered Mahalanobis as given in the preface to Kabir Shongey Dakshinattey,

You are one of my last friends. I know that even if others go away, you will not leave me.

The book had been translated by Somdatta Mondal, former English professor at Viswa-Bharati university which was established by Tagore with funds from US and Europe; and adopted Oriental (Gurukul) education system for the students.

  • Tagore with P. C. and Rani Mahalanobis in Balatonfured, Hungary
    Tagore with P. C. and Rani Mahalanobis in Balatonfured, Hungary
  • Tagore with Rani Mahalanobis in Kesztehly, Hungary
    Tagore with Rani Mahalanobis in Kesztehly, Hungary

Baishe Srabon[edit | edit source]

This book was written by Mahalanobis as a tribute to the infamous day on which Tagore had died while being surrounded by Mahalanobis and his servant. In it all the events leading to Tagore's failing health, his last wish and the events post death are all recorded.[11] According to Mahalanobis, Tagore's last wish right before he died on 7 August 1941 was to leave his corpse in free will to the ground in Shantiniketan, his birth place.

Baishe Srabon

This wish unfortunately couldn't be fulfilled as the Jorasanko house had been forcefully broken and crowd entered then took him away as huge populace waiting outside at that moment had grieved his demise. [12][13]

Indian Statistical Institute[edit | edit source]

In the annual reports of ISI, it is stated that Rani Mahalanobis had made donations to ISI which led to Raj Chandra Bose getting the part time scholarship. It was with this scholarship that R. C. Bose made out the Mahalanobis D2 statistic. The Mahalanobis couple also hosted distinguished scientists and their families at the time.[14]

Legacy[edit | edit source]

In 2024, as a part of 3 day long celebration of Tagore's achievements at Kolkata Centre for Creativity, a rare collection of photos and other memorabilia during Tagore's Europe tour and Mahalanobis residences had been put on display. One of these images include a group photo of Tagore, Prasanta Mahalanobis, Rani Mahalanobis and Andrea Butchenson in Oslo, 1926. Another item put on display was tribute to Tagore for naming Mahalanobis house to Netrakona. One page from manuscript of Baishe Srabon was also shown.[15]

On the first floor of ISI, the chatal (the open lounge), the study room and the residential rooms of Professor and Mrs. Mahalanobis are reinstated in order to give an authentic impression of the period. [1]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Memorial Museum and Archives". www.isical.ac.in. Archived from the original on 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  2. ↑ সংবাদদাতা, নিজস্ব (2023-07-23). "পর্ব-৬৮: বাবা, 'পিতা নোহসি' বলো — এই কথাটি ঘুরেফিরেই কবির কানে বেজে উঠত". সময় Updates. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  3. ↑ TSC, Alex Dunedin (2019-02-05). "Renuka Devi (1890–1904); daughter of Rabindranath". The Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mohanty, Sachidananda (2021-01-19). "Review of 'Kobi & Rani: Memoirs and Correspondence of Nirmal Kumari Mahalanobis and Rabindranath Tagore'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  5. ↑ Rao, C. R. (2010). "P. C. Mahalanobis". Current Science. 99 (3): 76–80. ISSN 0011-3891.
  6. ↑ "Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis – Bhāvanā". Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  7. ↑ "RMC Kolkata". mausam.imd.gov.in. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  8. ↑ Photos, Old Indian. "Rabindranath Tagore in Hungary - 1926". Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  9. ↑ Mahalānabiśa, Nirmalakumārī; Mandal, Somdatta; Mahalānabiśa, Nirmalakumārī; Mahalānabiśa, Nirmalakumārī; Tagore, Rabindranath (2020). 'Kobi' and 'Rani': memoirs and correspondences of Nirmalkumari Mahalanobis and Rabindranath Tagore. Birutjatio Sahitya Sammiloni (Bolpur, India) (First impression ed.). Bolpur: Birutjatio Sahitya Sammiloni. ISBN 978-81-944352-8-0.
  10. ↑ "'Kobi' and 'Rani'". Birutjatio. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  11. ↑ Basu, Anasuya (2024-06-24). "The Tagore-Mahalanobis bond: Rare pictures showcased at exhibition". The Telegraph India. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  12. ↑ "How much respect did Bengal show to Tagore on his ‘Last Journey?’". Get Bengal. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  13. ↑ "২২শে শ্রাবণ". Goodreads. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
  14. ↑ Kumar, T. Krishna (1997). "An Unfinished Biography: Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis". Economic and Political Weekly. 32 (23): 1321–1332. ISSN 0012-9976. One of these reports it was stated that Raj Chandra Bose received a part-time scholarship from a donation made to ISI by Nirmal Kumari Mahalanobis.
  15. ↑ "City celebrates Tagore through performances and a rare exhibition". The Times of India. 2024-07-01. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2026-04-30.

External links[edit | edit source]


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