Babu Vishwanath Dutt was a very successful Barrister of Calcutta. His success reflected in his palatial mansion which was situated in Mulia colony of the city. His wife, Bhuvaneshwari Devi was the only other member of his family. For years the couple remained childless.
The Barrister remained busy in his legal work. His wife was deeply religious minded. She filled her time in going to temples, attending discourses and religious singing sessions. The yearning for children made her more devotional.
Whenever Dutt Babu saw his wife longingly fondle the babies of the relatives or the neighbours he would realise the pain of his wife. He would console, ‘‘Dear, don’t lose heart. Sooner or later God is bound to bless us with children. It is just a matter of time.”
“I hope so. But why such delay? Is He putting us to an endurance test?” she would sigh.
“Who knows God’s ways?” the wife’s firm faith in God proved very helpful in such moments and he would add to justify the delay, “There can be reason for delay. Fruits that take time to ripen are always sweeter and juicier. The late offsprings are no ordinary ones. Remember that I have a feeling that he will bless us with a rare child who will bring glory to the family.’’
The God fearing wife would lap it happily. The sorrow would give way to a surge of new hope and brighter dreams of the motherhood of a great one. That made her pray to God more earnestly. Her faith in God, Karma and religion became a magnificent camel to carry her through the desert of the barren years.
Her prayers were, at last, answered. One day, she realised that she was in the family way. Babu Vishwanath Dutt heaved a sigh of relief. He prayed to God that it should be a male child so that he carries the torch of Barristership to hand it to his son. For him Barristership was the final frontier that an Indian child born under British rule need not look beyond. How wrong his child would prove him? Meanwhile, the good tidings carried the pregnant woman deeper into religious exercises to express her gratitude to God. She also wished some god to take incarnation as her child.
Finally on 12th January, 1862 the baby arrived. To Babu Vishwanath Dutt’s delight it was a male child. The mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi’s happiness knew no bounds. She started fondly calling her child ‘Billay’. Later, the child was formally christened ‘Narendranath!’
The child started growing in the lap his mother whose religious activities continued. The baby was rocked to the tunes of religious songs and Bhajans and breathed in the spiritual atmosphere. In afternoons women would gather in a large inner room of Dutt mansion to sing hymns or to hear Katha. As an allied activity they would fondle young Narendra.
Those meetings were usually graced by much loved and respected figure of Taruna Baiji who had a very sweet voice. The devotional songs sung by her made woman sway to her tunes under a spiritual spell. Her songs touched even baby Narendra’s subconscious mind. One day, the baby got so lost in the rhythm of her song that he kept dancing even after the singing was over. The women watched the child dance greatly amused. When he woke up from his dance trance he realised that all eyes were at him. As he turned red, Bhuvaneshwari Devi hid her son in her embrace to save him from embarrassment.
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