Sri Tanu Babu Sinha, besides being the disciple of Sri Sri Bhubaneshwar Sadhu Thakur, he was an educator, a social reformer, a philanthropist; and above all this he was a man of vision, writes Ranita Sinha.
Sri Tanu Babu Sinha, the renowned disciple of Sri Sri Bhubaneshwar Sadhu Thakur, was born on the 3rd day of Poush 1285 (Bengali Calendar Year). He was born in Kanaibazar village of Karimganj subdivision under Sri Hatta district- before the partition of Bengal in a Bishnupriya Manipuri family.
From his childhood, Sri Tanu Sinha was a meritorious student. He studied at a renowned government English Medium School at Sri Hatta Town. He passed the entrance examination under Calcutta University, attaining 1st position in the state of Assam and 3rd position in Calcutta University.
Later, he took admission in graduation with English and Sanskrit as the main subjects in the Presidency College. He passed out with English honors in the year 1902 securing the 1st position in the whole university becoming the first graduate of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community.
Sri Tanu Babu joined Calcutta University for his Masters Degree along with Law, in the year 1903. But, the same year the Assam Government came out with a project of spreading modern education in Manipur. For this Sri Tanu Sinha was given the responsibility to take the initiative and to execute it. So, for the betterment of his fellow Manipuri brothers, he headed towards Imphal, subsiding his dream of attaining higher studies.
Sri Tanu Babu put selfless effort for the spread of modern education in Manipur. He brought the educated youths of Sri Hatta and Cachar district; and after equipping them with modern teaching methods and training, he appointed them in the various new schools all over Manipur; with the humble thought, that, the project should not be stopped due to lack of man power. He had to his credit, many school books, written by him in Manipuri language.
During his tenure in Manipur, Sri Tanu Babu was showered with love and respect, for his selfless endeavor he had put for the progress of the Manipuri people there. He attained name and fame in a very short period, which was enough to make anybody envy of him.
Sri Tanu Babu’s well wishers in Manipur, who were concerned of his well being, suggested him to leave Manipur before the then King of Manipur plot something against him; to hamper the name and fame he earned by mere hard work and selfless dedication. In this way, Tanu Babu stint in Manipur ended, and he returned to his motherland, in the year 1907.
After returning to his hometown, Sri Tanu Babu joined as a sub-deputy officer. He was capable of attaining a more hierarchical job; but the then Chief Commissioner was not in favor of appointing any Manipuri in the higher posts, as he was a die-hard follower of Lord Quinton, whom the Manipuri people had murdered.
But Sri Tanu Babu retired from service as Excise Superintendent in the year1932. During his service tenure he had helped so many students, unemployed youths, underprivileged families in so many ways that it could not be put in words and cannot be comprehended easily. After his retirement he went to many Bishnupriya Manipuri villages of Sri Hatta, Cachar and Tripura to have a look of the way of life of the people and also to spread the message of the need of proper education.
Sri Tanu Babu than set out for visiting the holy places of India. When he reached Radhakunda in Vrindavana, he visited the Bishnupriya Manipuri Sri Sri Radha Madhav Mandir and done a lot of developmental works there. Than after visiting a few more holy places Sri Tanu Babu Sinha finally landed on the dream land of Shri Radha Rani- Nawadeep. After reaching there, he came in contact with Sri Sadhu Thakur. Sadhu Baba got so impressed with Tanu Babu’s truthfulness, simplicity and dedication that he made Tanu Babu learn all the puja rituals of Sri Sri Radha Govinda Jew Mandir. He gained Sadhu Baba’s confidence and became his most favorite disciple.
After Sadhu Baba left for heavenly abode on 17th July 1940, Sri Tanu Babu was appointed the chief Sebayit of the Temple. He left all materialistic luxury and dedicated himself fully to serve the Lord.
On the 2nd tithi of Poush Ekadashi, in the year 1349 (Bengali calendar year), while chanting the name of Lord Krishna, Sri Tanu Babu reached his eternity.
Dear reader, the whole write up is collated from an edition of Sri Govindo Churamoni. Being written in Bengali, it made things a little complicated to understand. Yet, I tried my best to put exactly what is written in the book. If anybody finds any mistake, please feel free to point out, so that it can be rectified.
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I heard the name of great Tanubsbu Sinha from my father.This article about the great BM legend has helped me to know more about the eminent personality.Thanks for such a beautiful piece.
ReplyDeletehi ranita di,
ReplyDeleteI was in a dilema..thank you for getting me out of it. thanks for writing about Sri Tanu babu.
it was really a wonderful piece of information.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRanita bouji, Thanks for this write up, Shri Tanu babu is my mother's great grand father, I had it in my mind to write about him for long but it seems you made my work easy. Though there are few more intricate details about his life which are missing here which I have heard from my Maternal Grandfather Shri Samarendra Sinha about his father, nevertheless this is one piece of wonderful information about his life in short.
ReplyDeleteThanks again
Sanju Sinha
Bangalore