বাংলা 
English 
Youth (1878-1901)
In 1878, with the intention of studying for the bar, Rabindranath went to England. He first enrolled at a public school in Brighton. In 1879 he began studying law at University College London.
But drawn to literary pursuits, he could not complete that course of study. During his stay in England, Rabindranath came into contact with the works of Shakespeare and other English writers. At this time he read with special interest Religio Medici, Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra. During this period Rabindranath sent accounts of his experiences of life in England to the Bharati magazine in the form of letters.
In the said magazine these writings were published, together with critical comments by his elder brother Dwijendranath Tagore, under the title ‘Europe Yatri — Letters of a Bengali Youth’. In 1881 that correspondence was printed in book form under the title ‘Europe Prabasir Patra’ (Letters from Europe). It was Rabindranath’s first prose work, that is, his first book written in the colloquial language. Finally, in 1880, after spending about a year and a half in England, without taking any degree and without even beginning his bar studies, he returned home.
On 9 December 1883 (24 Agrahayan, 1290 Bangabda) Rabindranath’s marriage was performed with Mrinalini Devi, daughter of Benimadhav Raichaudhuri, a subordinate employee of the Tagore estate. In married life Bhavatarini was renamed Mrinalini Devi (1873–1902). Rabindranath and Mrinalini had five children: Madhurilata (1886–1918), Rathindranath (1888–1961), Renuka (1891–1903), Meera (1894–1969) and Shamindranath (1896–1907). Among them, Renuka and Shamindranath died at a very young age.
From 1891, by order of his father, Rabindranath began supervising the family estates in Nadia (that part of Nadia lies in present-day Kushtia district of Bangladesh), Pabna and Rajshahi districts, and Odisha. Rabindranath spent a long time at the Shilaidaha Kuthibari in Kushtia. As zamindar, Rabindranath would travel from Shilaidaha on a luxurious family barge named ‘Padma’ to collect rents from the tenants and to receive salutations and offer blessings. The villagers too would hold feasts in his honour.
In 1890 Rabindranath’s other famous poetry book Manasi was published. Between the ages of twenty and thirty several more of his notable poetry books and song collections were published. These were Probhat Sangit, Shaishab Sangit, Rabichhaya, Kadi o Komal and so on. From 1891 to 1895 several of Rabindranath’s finest works were published in the Sadhana magazine edited by himself. That period of his literary life is therefore known as the ‘Sadhana period’. Half of the first eighty-four stories of Rabindranath’s Galpaguchchha were written during this period. In these short stories he painted a moving and suggestive picture of rural life in Bengal.
