Page:Rabindranath Tagore - A Biographical Study.djvu/169

 Add that the physical well-being of the boys is very carefully attended to. They are trained to be hardy and self-reliant, and have regular daily drilling, exercises, and games. Most of the prizes given at the sports competition of the district are carried off by the Shanti Niketan boys. Fire-drill is punctually gone through. "Recently," says our undergraduate friend, "a fire broke out about midnight in the town of Bolpur, which is about two miles from the school; the boys at once raced to the town, and after some hard work got the fire under, while all the townspeople stood crying out and watching it helplessly, not knowing what to do." The account of Shanti Niketan would be incomplete unless some idea were given of the part taken by Rabindranath Tagore himself in conducting the school.

Not many fathers speak of their sons with as great a longing and affection as the poet did of his boys. "I am far happier there with them than anywhere else." His affectionate care of them is a powerful spirit in the school; it was its birth-spirit, and it sustains the place and all who live and work there. "The boys call him Gurudu, which means the revered master.