Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/381

 a eS KABIWALAS 357 His father, Kalyauchandra! Dirghadi sent his son to the pathsala of one Bhairab-chandra Sarkar but his means were not sufficient to give his son a good education nor did the son seem eager enough to profit by his studies ; for from his early years Haru betrayéd a greater attachment to musical and poetical composition than to monotonous book- learning. When he was a mere boy, eleven years old, his father died and Haru at once gave up his books and began an irregular life of indolent pleasure for some years. But he hada natural gift of song and his irregular life had brought him into contact with a group of bohemians whom he gathered together and formed an amateur Kabi- party (sakher dal) under the acknowledged guidance of the weaver-poet Raghunath in whose company Haru had obtained his preliminary training. It is through Raghunath that Haru first began to be widely known and appreciated, and for Raghu, Haru Thakur always cherished a deep feeling of respect and gratitude, a fact which is amply indicated by his generously putting his master’s bhanita to some of his own compositions. The story is told how Haru got fame and recognition for the first time by singing at the palace of Raja Nabakrsna, a great patron of letters of that time, and how the delighted Raja having awarded him with a pair of shawls, the proud young man felt insulted at being treated like a needy professional Kabiwala and walked away throwing the royal gift on the head of his own dhu/s (drummer). The Raja however was a man of taste and discernment and had enough sense of humour to appreciate the uncommon behaviour of the young poet; and it was through the Raja’s advice and patronage, obtained so queerly, that Haru subsequently formed a professional party (pesad7ri dal) although he ‘Called Kalicharan in Baigabhagar Lekhak, vol. i, 367; in Gupta-ratnoddhar, p. 10; in Kabioyaladiger Git, p. 64.