Amartya Sen’s ‘Home in the World’: The life of an intellectual

"When I was born, Rabindranath persuaded my mother that it was boring to stick to well-used names and he proposed a new name for me…Amartya", writes the author and economist. Amartya Sen is often mentioned along with Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray for their remarkable contributions to Bengali history, and for their common connection to Santiniketan. Sen enhanced the glory of early Bengali intellectuals and continues to be a part of it till now.

Home in the Real World: A Memoir (Allen Lane, 2021), the most recent memoir of the Nobel laureate, borrows its title from Tagore's "The Home and the World" and reflects his influence on Sen, which began from young Amartya's first day at Tagore's unconventional school. It is an engrossing read with the anecdotal presence of personalities—Satyendra Nath Bose, physicist Paul Dirac, Rabindranath Tagore, Gandhi, and (other) great economists—drawn from history, their presence in the text is sometimes humorous, sometimes historical, and at others, informative. We learn of Sen's familial background, his early battle with carcinoma (which he diagnosed from reading medical books even though many doctors denied the cancer's existence), his convictions addressing rationalism, and his opinion over political issues. The remarkable work moves in a slow, graceful manner as it exudes the fragrance of the 20th century through its pages.

Sen depicts his childhood acquaintance with Mandalay, Dhaka, and Santiniketan with homely affection. A vague remembrance is presented of Mandalay, a charming city with a beautiful palace, Irrawaddy river, pagodas, and the distinguished prominence of women within the society. The happiness felt at their house, Jagat Kutir, in old Dhaka, watching engaging films with his Dadamani, and early memories of going to his father's laboratory at Dhaka University made Dhaka a place that Sen felt he belonged to. "Being in Santiniketan for the school terms and Dhaka for long holidays seemed an ideal combination to me […] All this changed with the partition of the country in 1947 […It] also meant that we had to move […] I loved Santiniketan but I greatly missed Dhaka–and Jagat Kutir", Sen writes.

Amartya Sen spent the best years of his life in Santiniketan or what he preferred to call 'school without walls'. The air of freedom there–which didn't exist while he was in St Gregory's School–was crucial in moulding his thinking and his perception of education; he learned the importance of freedom and reason, a combination that resided with him all his life. The presence of Tagore and his close relationship with Sen's family make the pages more indulging. Sen's scholar grandfather, an intimate friend of Tagore, is equally present in the many anecdotes.

One of the interesting chapters of the book is devoted to unfurling the fundamental differences between the two great leaders of India: Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi. Amartya Sen shares his scepticism of Gandhi's sentimentally prioritised and unscientific vision—unlike that of Tagore's—and expresses resentment for the little attention Tagore's real ideas received from the western audience.

A quiet, nocturnal Calcutta with its adda, debates, late night walks, theatres, and avenues of books in College street—"I had the wonderful sense that I had come to the right place on earth"—is delightfully narrated from a time when Sen was studying Economics and Mathematics at Presidency College. The intellectual ride swirls through cultures and places across history. It also brings forth a realisation of how the world changed in such a short time.

Readers more interested than I in the conceptions of economics and politics will find much to interest them. I couldn't really comprehend why a memoir needed to establish such an in depth theoretical understanding of economics. I was more deeply immersed in the story of such an interesting life led by an accomplished person.

Ilhamul Azam is a contributor. You can reach him at ilhamazam237@gmail.com.