In "The Homecoming" compare Pathik's village life with city life in detail.
Answers
The title of the story “The Homecoming” seems to suggest some sort of separation and re-union. There is a streak of sadness and pain that runs as an undercurrent throughout the story. This is perhaps a reflection of the personality of Rabindranath Tagore who occasionally used to have bouts of depression, best identified with his famous poem “Ekla Chalo Re” (Walk alone). Tagore could not receive the full-time attention of his parents during his growing years. His mother had already died, while his father Debendranath Tagore traveled widely during the Indian National Movement. All this meant isolation for the young Tagore who grew up lonely from within.
The story begins against the backdrop of a rural setting in a village nearby Calcutta (modern-day Kolkata). The protagonist Phatik Chakravorti is carrying out acts of mischief with his friends. He enters into a quarrel with his younger brother Makhan. After all this happens, a boat carries a “middle-aged man, with grey hair and dark moustache” to the shore. The man asks Phatik the whereabouts of Chakravortis but the young lad refuses to answer. Later it is discovered that the man is none but his maternal uncle Bishamber.