# Endnotes explained — My Reminiscences

> Chapter companion for My Reminiscences by Rabindranath Tagore.

## What happens

This chapter provides a series of explanatory endnotes that clarify cultural, linguistic, and contextual references within the main text, including details about Bengali household architecture, customs, literary traditions, and musical practices.

## Themes in this chapter

### Cultural Clash and Colonial Influence

The endnotes explain Bengali customs, language, and music in contrast to foreign readers' expectations, highlighting the intersection of indigenous traditions with colonial modernity.

### Literary Development and Self-Expression

Notes on poetic signatures, the Bhanu Singha hoax, and the translation of Macbeth illustrate the narrator's literary growth and creative expression.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The writer is referenced as the youngest of seven brothers, and his family house and personal experiences are described in the notes.

### Bankim Chandra

One of Bankim Babu's brothers is mentioned in a note.

### Tarak Palit

Referred to as Sir Tarak Palit, a lifelong friend of the writer's second brother.

### Gunendra

Mentioned as father of the well-known artists Gaganendra and Abanindra.

## Key lines

> The writer’s family house is an irregular three-storied mass of buildings, which had grown with the joint family it sheltered, built round several courtyards or quadrangles, with long colonnades along the outer faces, and narrower galleries running round each quadrangle, giving access to the single rows of rooms.

The narrator's family home is a sprawling three-story structure that expanded over time to accommodate the joint family, featuring multiple courtyards and covered walkways.

_This note explains the architectural layout of the family house._

> The old Vaishnava poets used to bring their name into the last stanza of the poem, this serving as their signature. Bhanu and Rabi both mean the Sun.

Traditional Vaishnava poets would include their name in the final stanza as a signature; 'Bhanu' and 'Rabi' both signify the sun.

_This note clarifies the poetic convention of self-identification and the meaning of the pen names Bhanu and Rabi._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_reminiscences_se/chapters/endnotes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_reminiscences_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_reminiscences_se/chapters