Jamuna Sen

Jamuna Sen was born in Haveli Kharagpur in Munger District of Bihar in 1912, the third child of Nandalal Bose and Sudhira Devi. Her father Nandalal Bose was a key figure in developing a modernist art movement in India. Indeed, she grew up in a family of artists: her elder siblings Gouri Bhanja (née Bose) and Biswarup Bose were both artists. The former developed and perfected the Alpona art form of Santiniketan. She also had a younger brother, Gorachand Bose, who was an engineer by profession.

Portrait of Jamuna Bose (later Sen) at age 14 by Abanindranath Tagore, 1926. Photo courtesy: Suprabuddha & Deepa Sen

At the invitation of Rabindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose took charge as the principal of the nascent art school Kala Bhavana in 1921.[1] Under his tutelage, and with the guidance of Rabindranath, Kala Bhavana would soon go on to become one of the most important art institutions in the world, and more broadly, Santiniketan would develop an aesthetic style in its everyday activities that became part of a wider cultural norm. This is the environment in which Jamuna grew up.

Jamuna married Keshab Chandra Sen (known as Sebak Sen), brother-in-law of Kshitimohan Sen, in 1936. Keshab Chandra Sen was an electrical engineer by profession. Their son Suprabudhha Sen was born in 1938.

Jamuna Sen was an accomplished dancer from a young age. She wished to learn classical dance formally, but social conventions of the time contravened. However, Tagore spotted her talent and gave her instructions himself on dancing to his music. It is in this field of Rabindra-Nritya, the dance style that evolved under Tagore in Santiniketan, that Jamuna excelled. Diyali Lahiri provides a wonderful account:[2]

“She was one of the fortunate students who received care and attention from the poet himself. Those who saw her dancing in some of those roles often said that she was a natural performer and dancing was her second nature. She was a prominent member of the first dance group and the prima ballerina in all Rabindranath's dance dramas. …She, along with other girls, appeared in public on Calcutta stages and elsewhere for many performances under Tagore's guidance.

Jamuna Bose (later Sen) in the eponymous role in Tagore's dance drama Chitrangada: Photo courtesy: Esha Dutta

They accompanied Tagore on many of his fund-raising trips to perform all over India and Ceylon. This had a major effect in breaking the age-old social taboo of conservative Bengal that prohibited girls from performing on public stage… Jamuna in particular was the trailblazer among them and she continued to dance even after her marriage…These were very bold portrayals of women on stage in the early 1930s. To depict such self-assurance in Chitrangada, such straightforward and passionate probing in Prakriti in Chandalika and the conflict between physical attraction and spiritual love in Kamalika in Shapmochan, and to do so on the public stage, certainly took not only skill and ability but also courage. To express this revolutionary reconstruction of the feminine persona Jamuna was the perfect instrument. Her graceful dancing style, spontaneous expressive movement, and total involvement with the role she depicted, are her legacy. In recognition of her contribution to the "Tagore Dance Style", the West Bengal State Academy presented her with an award for the year 1997-98.”

Jiu Jitsu first batch: Jamuna Bose - centre front row. Photo courtesy: Supradipta Sen

In 1929 Tagore invited Jiu Jitsu teacher Shinzo Takagaki from Japan to visit Santiniketan.[3] With a teacher free from social restrictions, Tagore encouraged both men and women to learn the ancient martial art, and Jamuna, along with her compatriots Amita Sen, Nivedita Bose (née Ghosh), was one of the students. Bearing testament to the progressive ideas of Tagore and Santiniketan, they even performed Jiu Jitsu at New Empire in Kolkata.[4]

Apart from her artistic career, Jamuna Sen added an important chapter in the institutional history of Santiniketan. Nandalal had started an organisation called Karusangha in 1930, which did not last very long.[5] Around 1960, the modern incarnation of Karusangha started under the leadership of Jamuna Sen. As noted above, this evolved from the certificate course in design at Kala Bhavana. As her daughter-in-law Deepa Sen writes "Even after her regular teaching duties and chores for running a home, Ma felt that the women of Santiniketan among her students would benefit from an organisation to enable them to earn a living through the skills they learnt from her. This was the idea behind the establishment of Karusangha in 1960… To this day, her students are using her designs to create works of Batik, embroidery etc… Women from many poor families have benefited from this."[4]