STORY
Dorothy Bonarjee the Forgotten Hindu Bard
A tribute to a poet for woman’s month
Dorothy Bonarjee, born in India, a Brahmin of the higher caste
in Bengali Rampur, living a simple life away from Bengal
on the family estate near Nepal.
Well educated, sent to Dulwich England at the age of ten
Influenced by her mother, shunning the snobbery of London
Preferring Aberystwyth Wales for further education.
Winning one of Wales’ most prestigious cultural prizes in 1914,
one of Dorothy’s most outstanding achievements, a bard at just nineteen!
Dorothy was a popular student, treasurer of the literary and debating society, an editor for student magazine “The Dragon,”
in which she also published several works.
Under the pseudonym “Shita”, required by competition rules, Dorothy won the college’s Eisteddfod poetry prize, a beautiful hand-carved chair, after standing up revealing she was Shita! Dorothy received a “deafening standing ovation” as she stood to claim her prize.
The first foreigner and the first woman’s victory at Eisteddfod college!
Dorthy endured heartbreak during her time in Aberystwyth
Her three-year engagement was broken off by her fiancee’s parents claiming;
“She is very beautiful and she is very intelligent but she is Indian”.
It destroyed Dorothy, she wrote The poem “Renunciation”.
So I must give thee up — not with the glow
Of those who losing much yet rather gain.
But losing all. Did never martyr go
Along the bleeding road of useless pain?
Did never one held prisoner by a creed,
Obsessed by stern heroic ghosts, made dumb
By those who answered duty to his need,
With faithless loathing feet to his fate come?
Found in an exercise book by Dorothy’s niece Sheela Bonarjee
Dorothy graduated from the University of Wales in 1916 with a BA in French; next was University College London.
Dorothy was the first woman to gain an international law degree from the Faculty Of Laws in 1917. Women were forbidden to formally practice law until 1919, Dorothy once again proving to be a unique Indian woman.
A supporter of women’s suffrage along with her mother signing the Woman’s Franchise Address, fighting for women’s rights to vote and hold office in colonial India.
Women who owned property in Britain had limited suffrage, Indian women were ignored.
Dorothy also spoke at the Indian section of the British Dominions Women Citizen’s Union, highlighting suffrage across the British empire initially founded in New Zealand.
Dorothy moved to France rather than moving back to India with her two brothers, marrying French artist Paul Surtel, retreating from public life to her father’s anger.
Again, Dorothy showing her womanly strength and independence.
Dorothy and paul had two children together, Claire Aruna and Denis, who unfortunately died during infancy. Dorothy and Paul were divorced in 1936, Dorothy claiming,
“Nothing is more weary morally than a weak husband”.
Dorthy refused to return to India, preferring to stay in France where she painted still life and landscapes, always keeping in touch with her Welsh friends, a bond Dorothy dearly held close to her heart throughout her life.
Dorothy also honoured her Indian traditions up until she died in 1983.
Dorothy Bonarjee The Hindu bard, activist, independent woman.
James G Brennan 2021
Source: BBC News, biography.wales tandfonline.com Wikipedia.
Thanks also to me sister Collette K. Brennan for putting me on to Dorthy’s story.
I’m finding it very difficult to find Dorothy’s poetry. Here is a link to the last stanza of her award-winning piece about Welsh soldier Owain Lawgoch.
Thank you as always, Somsubhra Banerjee and the Literary Impulse (Shabd Aaweg) team for giving my words a platform 🙏🙏
Thank you all for reading and your precious time. Always. J. 🙏✨
